Rebekah
by Rage13
Summary: It's Harry's fifth year at Hogwarts, and there's a new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor. Rebekah Black has an ulterior motive, however - she's at Hogwarts to keep an eye on Harry...and on Snape!
1. Default Chapter

As Harry, Ron, and Hermoine entered the Great Hall for the Sorting Ceremony and Welcome Feast, the first thing they noticed is that there was a new teacher.   A woman was seated at the teachers' table, between Professor Flitwick and Professor McGonagall's empty chair.  The woman was engaged in deep discussion with the diminutive Charms instructor, who was animated and excited, nearly to the point of falling off his seat.  

The babble of voices died down as Professor McGonagall led the nervous first year students up the central aisle toward the sorting hat, which was perched, as usual, on a stool directly in front of the teachers.

Harry's mind wandered as the new students were sorted into their houses, reluctantly dragging his mind back to the present whenever the Gryffindor Table erupted into applause at the acquisition of each new house member.   For some reason, he had the strangest feeling about this term, and had been extremely nervous about returning to Hogwarts, more so than he had been even before his first year, when he had found out barely a month before the start of term that he was a wizard; but he wasn't sure if it was a good feeling or a bad feeling.   He was just certain that something highly unusual was going to happen – which in and of itself wasn't too unusual, considering his own history at Hogwarts – he just wished he knew what it was.  Was Voldemort going to return, and attempt to kill him again?  Would the dementors and the Ministry of Magic finally catch up to his godfather, Sirius?   Harry glanced up as the table again exploded into cheers and the last student to be sorted sat down, red-faced at the attention, at the Gryffindor table.   He caught sight of someone staring at him from the teachers' table.  Snape.  The look on his face as he glared at Harry was as loathsome as it had ever been.  

But Snape was not the only one whose gaze was fixed on Harry.   The new professor, the woman, was also looking in Harry's direction, with the most odd expression on her face.  She glanced over briefly at Professor Snape when she saw where Harry's attention was focused, and a small, rather amused, smile crossed her lips.   The sound of a knife being struck against a goblet centered the room's attention on the solitary figure rising to his feet at the center of the table.

"Welcome, students and teachers, to another year at Hogwarts."  Albus Dumbledore's voice carried to the far reaches of the hall, echoing off the walls and ceiling.  "I have one announcement to make this evening, before we begin the feast.  I would like to welcome a new instructor to our school; may I present, Rebekah Black."  The woman who had been speaking to Flitwick gracefully rose to her feet and bowed her head slightly to the students, smiling.  "Professor Black will be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts, as well as Muggle Studies.  An interesting, if slightly unusual, combination, but her unique background makes her especially suited for both of these classes."  He beamed a smile in her direction.

"Thank you, Headmaster," Professor Black said as she returned to her seat.  The students stared at one another – she had an American accent.  She was a foreigner!

Hermoine was more surprised than the rest.  "Hogwarts has never had a foreign teacher before; they have always been from around here."

"How do you know that?" asked Ron, suspiciously.

Harry answered for her.  "She read it in _Hogwarts, A History_, isn't that right?"  Hermoine grinned in response.  

"Anyway," she continued, "I can't wait to find out her background.  Defense Against the Dark Arts _and_ Muggle Studies?  What a combination.  I wonder if I can get back into Muggle Studies this term…"

Both Harry and Ron stared at her.  "You're not thinking about using that Time Turner again, are you?" Ron hissed.  "The workload nearly killed you last time!"

"No," she said, "I learned my lesson two years ago.   I'd hate to drop Arithmancy, though."

The subject of schedules was quickly forgotten as the students eagerly dove into the awaiting feast.  When they had all eaten their fill, Professor Dumbledore dismissed them and bid them all goodnight.  Lee Jordan was the new Gryffindor prefect, and he chatted amiably with Fred and George Weasley as he led them up the twisting staircases to their dorms.  

Full of delicious food and drink, Harry had hoped that sleep would come easily, but he lay awake for a long time, listening to the breeze blowing in the open tower window and the gentle hooting drifting down from the owlery.  Why was he so nervous?  What was he so worried about?  He tried to push it from his mind, but it was nearly midnight before sleep finally caught up with him.

The next morning at breakfast, the course schedules were passed out.  Hermoine was pleased that Arithmancy had been moved and was now her first class.  Harry and Ron were not quite as thrilled.

"Do you see what we've got?" Ron practically shrieked.  "First Divination and _then_ double Potions…with the Slytherins again!!  I don't believe it.  Today is going to be the worst day ever."

Harry was inclined to agree with him.  He wasn't sure if he could handle another year of doom-laden predictions from the infamous Sybil Trelawney.   But they finished their breakfast, gathered their things, and started the long, winding trek to the top of the North Tower.   "Bye!" they called to Hermoine.  "See you in the dungeons next hour!"

The Divination classroom was as bad as they remembered it from last year: hot, stuffy, with sickly-sweet incense tickling their noses, and the pale, willowy form of Professor Trelawney sweeping about the room with her gloom-and-doom prophecies.  Lavender Brown and Pavarti Partil were both right at the front of the room again, and the instructor's words were focused on them, with the rest of the class an afterthought.

"Today," she began, "we are going to read the future in the cards.  On each table is a deck of Tarot Cards for your use.  There are some seers who do not approve of the cards, as Muggles are quite fond of them and have even managed to make a few intelligent predictions based on them."  Ron and Harry shot looks at one another, trying not to snigger.  "I would like each person at the table, in turn, to deal the cards using the Celtic Cross spread seen on pages 94-95 of your book _Unfogging the Future_, and use the guide on the following pages to read the cards.  I will move amongst you to monitor your progress."

Ron shrugged and reached for the cards.  "Harry, I'll read you first," he said.

"Thanks, I think," Harry muttered.  "It's a good thing Hermoine dropped out of this; she'd be having a conniption right about now."

Ron, looking between his book and the tabletop, dealt out the cards, and both he and Harry leaned forward to study the odd pictures.    They could hear Professor Trelawney gushing praise out over Lavender's reading on the other side of the room.

"Gee whiz, Harry," said Ron.  "Look at all this!"  He peered at the first card, flipping between the pages of the book.  "OK, the card in the first position is the primary factor.  You've got an Ace of Wands…guess you're an ace with your wand…" Harry covered his mouth to avoid giggling out loud.  Ron continued, "It means creativity, enthusiasm, confidence, and courage."  He looked up at Harry.  "Let's just hope you won't be needing that courage part any time soon.  I could do with a dull year."

Harry grinned.  He pointed to another card.  "What's this one mean?"

Ron flipped madly through the book.  "The High Priestess of the Major Arcana," he read, "symbolizes intuition and mystery – to put it bluntly," he added.  "It's in the Sixth Position, which is for the future.  So I guess we're going to have a mystery.  Great.  I could use a little of that confidence and courage from the first card."  Harry was having a hard time stifling his laughter.  

Professor Trelawney sailed over to their table.  "Well, how are we coming?  Let's see what you have.  Who's reading is this?"

"Harry's," answered Ron.  "I dealt."

"I see," Trelawney said.  She leaned over their table, studying the cards.  "Hmm, courage, yes…there's the Knight of Swords in the Third Position…yes, indeed.  Oh my!"  she looked at Harry, her eyes wide.  She gave him a sly smile.  "Harry, you have The Lovers in the Tenth Position."

The rest of the class looked up, a few of them had wide eyes.  Harry narrowed his eyes at the Professor.  "What exactly does that mean, then?" he asked.

Professor Trelawney's smile grew.  "Why, my dear, there is a wedding in your future!"

The class descended into laughter and catcalls.  Harry could feel his face turning beet red at the proclamation.  "Um, professor…that seems awful…sudden, don't you think?  I mean, I can't imagine why there would be wedding in my future at my age.  I haven't even finished school yet!"

Lavender Brown interrupted whatever answer Professor Trelawney was about to give by raising her hand.  "Professor?  What else do the cards say?  I mean, could it be a member of his family that gets married, or maybe he's in a wedding?"

The teacher's smile returned.  "This card in the Tenth Position means that something relating to love, like a wedding, or something similar, is the final outcome, the end result.  Let me see what else we have here…" she bent back over the low table, murmuring to herself.  Finally, satisfied, she straightened.  "There is someone who is dear to you who is somehow involved…but it is not them directly.  See this card here," she indicated one of the cards, "shows that an enemy will also be involved, but not bringing harm towards you, and certainly not necessarily in a bad way, as we see by _this card_," she pointed to another.  She looked rather disappointed.  "Ah, well, I guess we shall see what comes of all this!"

They met Hermoine at the entrance to the dungeons for Potions.  She gave Harry a questioning look as a couple fellow Gryffindors softly hummed a few bars of the wedding march as they passed by.  "I'll tell you later," he mumbled, "Just ignore it for now."

Potions was just as terrible as Divination.  Professor Snape was as mean, surly, and ill-tempered as he had ever been, and he started everything off by taking points from Gryffindor because he didn't like the way Harry was sitting on the bench.  "Unprofessional and immature.  Five points from Gryffindor," he said, to the snickers and smirks of the Slytherin students.  Hermoine had to clutch Ron's robes to keep him in his seat.  But Snape saw that, too, and gave both of them detention for "improper actions toward a teacher and fellow classmate." 

When class was dismissed, Harry waited as Hermoine and Ron met with Professor Snape to have their detentions arranged.   They came out rolling their eyes and groaning.  "Do you know what he has us doing?" Hermoine whispered to Harry.  "We have to scrub the dungeon floor in two weeks!"  

"And with _no magic_!" Ron added.  "It's so unfair!  I'm going to complain to McGonagall!"

"No, Ron, you musn't," said Hermoine.  "That'll just make Snape more angry.  Let's just do it, and get it over with.  It's not worth wasting our time trying to get out of it.  Besides," she gave Ron a reproving look, "you really ought to work a little bit anyway.  Scrubbing floors isn't so bad; I did it all the time at home.  It was one of my chores that I had to do."

Ron looked at Hermoine like either she or her parents were crazy.  "How ever do Muggles get stuff done?" he asked, incredulous.

Everyone was looking forward to their first Defense Against the Dark Arts class with Professor Black.  They had caught snippets of comments from the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables during supper, as they had already been, and this new professor seemed like she was definitely worth getting to know.

"She can't be any worse than Lockhart," reminded Ron.

"Or Quirrell," added Harry.  "But of course, we have to wait until Thursday."

"Let's just hope she doesn't get sick like Professor Lupin did the other year," Hermione said, her mouth full of treacle tart.  "I don't think I can stand Professor Snape as a substitute again."

They filed into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom on Thursday afternoon to find Professor Black perched upon the desk at the front of the room.  When they had all taken their seats, she began to call roll.  Harry found himself studying her as she rattled off the students' names.  She was somewhat tall, thin, with dark auburn hair that cascaded down her back, and quite pretty.  She seemed young, but he knew that she had to be at least twenty years old, possibly thirty.  He noticed that she wasn't wearing a hat like the other professors did; it was hung on a coat rack off to the side.  When his name was called, and he responded, she gave him a quick smile before moving on.  

With a snap she flipped shut the roll book and hopped off the desk.  She stood in front of the class and gave them all a beaming smile.  Harry looked over at Ron; his mouth was practically hanging open, as were the mouths of all of the male students.  Professor Black was rather pretty when she smiled – and since she was the youngest professor they had seen since they started at Hogwarts, naturally, the boys were all somewhat smitten.  Harry heard a "Hmph!" from next to him; Hermoine obviously didn't approve of the reactions.

"Good afternoon, everyone," said Professor Black.  "My name is Rebekah Black, and I am your new Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor.  I hope that my tenure here lasts a little longer than those of your last few professors in this position."  There were some giggles from around the room.

"I would like to start off by telling you a little bit about myself.  As some of you may have guessed from my accent, I am from America.  I was born here in Britain, but my mother and I moved to the United States when I was nine.  My mother got a job at the Department for the Protection of Magical Interests with the United States Government, so we moved around a lot and saw quite a bit of the country.  I attended several different magical schools there, including Wyllaned in the state of Kansas and Lovecraft Institute in Rhode Island.   I specialized in Dark Magic Defense.

"I worked for several years in the local Dark Magic Protection Agency where I lived, and after receiving several promotions, I landed a job in the Homeland Defense Division of the Department for the Protection of Magical Interests.   When my mother passed away a few years ago, I decided that I would like to return to Britain.  I have family here that I have not seen since I was a child.  When I learned that a position was open here at Hogwarts, I immediately applied."

The class stared at her in amazement.  "You are probably also wondering why I am teaching Muggle Studies as well.  My mother's position with the government threw us into greater contact with Muggles than most wizarding people.  She actually headed up the Division for the Preservation of Muggle Society, which functions like your Muggle Protection Act here.  We lived in an almost all-Muggle community, I had Muggle friends as well as wizard friends.  As a result, I have more insight into Muggles than many people who have studied the subject for more than twice the years, because I grew up with them and had daily contact.  I even attended a Muggle school for a few years."

She smiled again and clapped her hands once.  "Well, enough about me, let's see what you're all about today."  She started rapid-firing questions to the class, grilling them on all they had learned.  When she ran out of questions, she instructed them to take out their wands for some practical work.

When the left the classroom at the end of the hour, a few of them still showing some slight effects from the various hexes and curses they had been casting, everyone was pleased that they finally had a Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor that was not only good at what she did, but also appeared to be completely normal.

The days flew by quickly, but they were so busy that they hardly noticed.  One Friday morning about three weeks into the term, Ron, Harry and Hermione were eating breakfast and discussing plans for the upcoming weekend.  

"Let's go and see Hagrid this afternoon," said Harry.  "We don't have any class and I've hardly had time to say more than two words to him."

Ron and Hermione agreed and were looking forward to the outing when the owls swooped in with the morning mail.  In addition to her copy of the _Daily Prophet_, Hermione also got a short note scribbled on parchment; an identical note landed on Ron's plate too.  He read it and groaned.  "Oh, no, we've got to do our detention for Snape this afternoon!"

"We'll have to miss out on Hagrid today, Harry," sighed Hermione, "but why don't you go anyway.  You can tell us all about it when we get finished with the dungeon floors."

"Yeah," said Ron, gloomily, "I'm sure we'll need some cheering up."

Later that day as Ron and Hermione wearily dragged themselves to Professor Snape's office, Harry headed out to Hagrid's cabin.  He knocked on the door, heard the sound of a chair scraping as it was being pushed back, and the door opened to Hagrid's smiling face.  

"Harry!"  he bellowed.  "So good ta see yer.   Come in, come in."  He stepped aside.  When he entered, Harry realized that he was not the only visitor.  Professor Black was seated on Hagrid's oversized couch with Fang's head in her lap and a cup of tea on the low table in front of her.  She smiled when she saw him.  Fang flicked his eyes in Harry's direction and gave his tail a couple of quick thumps, but made no move to get up.  He seemed content to stay where he was.

Harry smiled nervously at the professor.  "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt."  He looked at Hagrid.  "I can come back later, if you like."

"Nah!  No need ter come back, mate.  Just set yerself righ' down 'ere and have a spot o' tea with me an' Professor Black."  Hagrid shoved a chair up behind Harry and poured him a cup of tea.  He took a sip, and Professor Black turned to him.

"You probably didn't expect to find me here, did you, Harry?" she asked.

Harry shook his head.  He didn't know what to say.

She smiled down at the dog sprawled across her knees and scratched behind his ears.  Fang closed his eyes in ecstasy.   "I saw Hagrid and Fang the other day, walking across the grounds, and I just had to come and meet them.  I'll admit that I have an affinity for big, vicious-looking beasts like this one here."  She rubbed Fang's head harder; he gave a few grunts and sighed with pleasure.

She turned her smile toward the gamekeeper.  "But Hagrid is delightful himself, and I'm pleased that I had the opportunity to meet such an interesting person.  He and I have a lot in common, interest-wise."  Her smile became a mischievous grin.  "Did you know that I once raised a blast-ended skrewt myself?"

Both she and Hagrid laughed at the look of shock and horror that was plastered across Harry's face.  Harry didn't feel so awkward in her presence after that, and the three of them enjoyed a lively discussion together, which ended only when they noticed it was dusk; they had chatted straight through supper. 

"Yeh'd better be on yer way, Harry.  Don' want you to get in no trouble up at t'school."  Hagrid said.   Harry thanked him for the tea and said goodbye to Professor Black, who now had Fang's entire body in her lap.   She held up her hand.

"I really should be going, too, Hagrid.  If you'll wait a moment, Harry, I'll go with you."  She struggled to extricate herself from underneath the dog's body, and Hagrid had to practically pull Fang off the couch to allow her to stand.  She laughed at the dog, and bid Hagrid goodbye.

Harry walked back to the castle alongside Professor Black, not knowing what to say.  She broke the silence.   "It was very good to meet you on a more personal level, Harry.  I'd like to speak with you some more, in private, when you have time.  Will that be all right?"

"Uh, sure, Professor," Harry stammered.  "That will be fine.  Next week?"

"Next week will be perfect," she said as they walked through the great double doors at the front of the Hogwarts castle.  "I have a few things you might be interested in."

Just then, they heard a voice behind them that made Harry's heart skip a beat.  "Potter!" snarled Professor Snape.  "What are you-" He stopped when he saw who was with him.

"Severus," said Professor Black in a pleasant voice, smiling.  "How are you this evening?"

Snape looked taken aback at her demeanor.  He quickly regained his composure and glared at Harry.  "I didn't see Mr. Potter at supper this evening, and became…quite worried.  I was concerned that something might have…happened to him."  But Harry got the distinct impression that Snape would have preferred if something did happen to him.  Something not-so-very-nice, either.  "Perhaps I should send for an elf to bring some food up to his common room…." 

"Harry has been with me since earlier this afternoon," she said.  "We didn't realize that we had missed dinner, but no harm done.  I'll fetch something from the kitchens for him to take up to his dormitory.  Don't trouble yourself about it, Severus.  I'll take care of it.  Good night, now.  See you later.  Come on, Harry, let's get some dinner."

When Harry returned to the Gryffindor Common Room that evening, carrying the large amount of food that Professor Black had given to him, he found Ron and Hermione, just out of the showers, relaxing by the fire.  

"Harry!" Ron cried.

"Where have you been?" asked Hermione, indignant.

Harry told them about how Professor Black was at Hagrid's hut when he got there and the three of them had talked right through supper.  "How did your dungeon cleaning go?"

"Horrid," said Hermione.  "We haven't had dinner either, it was so late when we got done."

The food Harry had been given was enough for all three of them; while they ate, Ron and Hermione described their miserable afternoon scrubbing the dungeon floors with brushes and buckets of soapy water and Snape.

"He just stood over us, the whole time, making nasty comments and threats," Ron said between mouthfuls.  "But Hermione and I just kept our mouths shut and kept working.  It must have frustrated him that we didn't react, so he couldn't find good reason to give us more detention."

"And," Hermione added, "he was going to try to make us stay later, he kept saying the floor was still dirty even though it was practically gleaming."  She smiled.  "Then Professor Dumbledore stopped by to see Snape, and he commented on how nice and shiny clean the floor was.  Snape had to let us go, then.  The look on his face would have curdled milk."

They all laughed.  "So that's why he looked so unpleasant when Professor Black and I got back from Hagrid's hut," Harry said.  "He thought he had caught me alone, but Black put him in his place.  It was funny to see him so frustrated."  They laughed again.

On Monday morning, during breakfast, Harry got a letter.   It almost went unnoticed, as Ron was still complaining about cleaning the dungeon floors for Snape, but Hedwig nipped Harry's hand before flying off.  He picked up the letter and ripped it open.  A huge grin lit up Harry's face.  "It's from Sirius!" he whispered.

Ron choked on his bacon.  "Sirius?  How is he?"

"Where is he?" asked Hermione.

Harry folded the letter up and slid it in his robes.  "Not here.  We've still got time before class starts.  Let's go up to the tower where we can have some privacy."

The three of them bolted down the rest of their breakfasts, grabbed book and quills, and hurried back to the tower.  Their progress was cut off mid-way by a looming, dark figure.

"Potter, Granger, and Weasley, in such a hurry?"  purred Snape, his dark eyes flashing.  "Where might you be going that you need to run?"

Harry spoke up before Ron got himself in trouble.  "We're just heading back up to our Common Room before class, Professor," he said, in the calmest, most rational voice he could manage.  "We don't want to be late."

Snape scowled.  "And why do you all need to go dashing back up there?  If one of you left something, then only that one need go.  I can't imagine that all three of you forgot some crucial item in your dormitory…unless it was on _purpose_."  The word was almost a sneer.  

The three students stared blankly at him, not knowing what to say.  Snape nodded his head.  He was leaning threateningly over them, his eyes blazing, his hands twitching.  "I thought as much.  I think that I will have to- "

Snape was suddenly silenced when a hand appeared on his shoulder and a sweet voice floated to their ears from behind him.  "Calm down, for goodness' sake, Severus.  You're going to give yourself an ulcer."

Snape turned, and they all stared.  Professor Black stood there, hatless as usual, beaming one of her award-winning smiles at the four of them.  Snape looked startled, but masked it quickly.  "These young Gryffindors were running about the hall; I thought it necessary to…caution them on the hazards of not watching where they are going."  His eyes were no longer blazing, but they could hear the contempt in his voice.

"Oh, they meant no harm, I'm sure.  Let them go on their way, it will be time for their class soon, and we wouldn't want them to be tardy, now would we? No, of course not.  Besides, I have a favor to ask of you, Severus, if you don't mind…" She looked back at the three of them quickly and winked as she took Professor Snape by the elbow and steered him toward the staff room. 

"I was so sure we weren't going to get out of that one without another stint in the dungeons," said Hermione as the Fat Lady swung her portrait open, revealing the door to the Gryffindor Common Room.   "Thank goodness for Professor Black."

"That's twice now she's saved my skin," agreed Harry.  "I should thank her."  He pulled the letter out of his robes.  "Let's see what Sirius has to say…" They all crowded around the parchment to read.

_Dear Harry, Sorry that I haven't written in so long, but I have been busy and moving around quite a bit.   I had hoped to be able to contact you before the start of the school term, but I just couldn't manage it.  _

_You'll have to let me know when your next Hosgmeade weekend is; perhaps we can meet again.  By the way, Remus Lupin asked me to tell you, Ron, and Hermione hello.   He may come to your first Quidditch match, so be sure look for him there.  _

_One other thing, Harry – tell my sister I said hello._

_"Snuffles"_

They all stared at the last sentence.  It was Ron who found his voice first.  "Sister?  He's got a sister?!  Who is it?"

Harry could only stare, wide-eyed, at the letter.  Hermione broke his train of thought, tugging on both his and Ron's robes.  "Come on!  You've got ten minutes to get to the top of the North Tower for Divination!  We can talk about it later!"  All three scrambled out the portrait hole; Hermione headed off to Arithmancy while Ron and Harry dashed up the tower stairs.

They were still on Tarot Cards with Professor Trelawney, who was focusing her attentions on Lavender and Pavarti, which gave Harry and Ron time to have a whispered discussion about Siruis's latest revelation. 

"I can't believe he never told you he had a sister," Ron said as Harry dealt the cards into the table.  "Why isn't he staying with her, then, instead of on the run all the time?"

"Dunno," said Harry.  "Open your book, though, so we look like we're doing something over here.  Maybe she's under guard because the Ministry thinks he'll try to hide out with her or something."

"She's not under guard; she's _here_!  -Oh, look, Page of Cups, Harry - he wouldn't have asked you to say hello to her if he didn't know she was at Hogwarts.  How else would you be able to find her?"

"I still don't know who she is, though," Harry said, miserably.  "Look, Ron, you've got the Death card here.  Better call Trelawney over, she'd love to see this."  They chuckled under their breath.  

Ron shook his head as they continued to decipher the cards.  "I just can't understand why he just asked you to say hello to her like you knew her or something, and he never told you.  It's not like you can just walk up to everybody here and say, 'Excuse me, but are you Sirius Black's sister?'"

Ron and Harry stared at each other across the table.  A shock like a lightning bolt ripped through them as the lovely new professor's last name registered in their brains.  "Professor Black!" they both said aloud.  Professor Trelawney, along with the rest of the class, jumped at their outburst.  

"Sorry," Ron and Harry muttered, embarrassed.  They bent back over their cards studiously.

The rest of the class passed in a blur for Harry as his mind kept wandering back to the enigma that was Rebekah Black.  Was she really Sirius's sister?  Why hadn't she said anything?  She must have told him she was going to teach here.  Unless it was Dumbledore.  Harry shook his head.  He realized he would just have to speak with her himself.

Harry and Ron flew down the stairs to the dungeon as soon as they got out of Divination.  Hermione was waiting for them.  They drew up, breathless, panting; Ron managed to get out, "Professor Black…sister…"

"I know," said Hermione, "I figured it out just as I got to Arithmancy.  Are you sure?"

"No," gasped Harry, holding his side, "but I can't think of who else it could be.  I'm going to go see her after Potions.  She asked me to stop by sometime this week anyway."  Just then, Snape appeared in the door to the dungeons, glaring at them.   They scurried into the room, even though there were still a few minutes left before the start of class.

Professor Snape settled himself in front of the class and swept his gaze over the students.  "Today," he began, "we are going to start making a very complex potion.  Who can tell me what Polyjuice Potion does?"

Ron, Harry and Hermione all raised their hands; Snape looked surprised.  When nobody else volunteered to answer, he snapped, "Very well, Weasley, what does it do?"

"It makes whoever drinks it look like another person.   One of the ingredients is hair from the person you want to change into." Ron said.

Snape scowled.  "Correct," he said grudgingly.  "This potion will take the better part of one month to finish.  Your cauldrons will remain here under my supervision."  He glared at the room.  "Well, what are you waiting for?  Get started!"

Snape seemed especially irritated that Harry, Ron and Hermione were showing no signs of difficulty with the potion.  He didn't know, of course, that they had secretly made Polyjuice Potion three years earlier, to try to get information from Draco Malfoy about the Chamber of Secrets.  The three of them were very careful about their attitudes during the class; none of them wanted to face detention with Snape for stepping out of line.  As the hour drew to a close, Snape became more and more irritable, presumably for not being able to punish any of the Gryffindor students, but also because several exploding cauldrons showed that the Slytherin students were having quite a bit of trouble.

When the hour was up, Snape instructed them to move the cauldrons to tables lining the walls.  When their cauldron was settled in its new place, Harry, Ron, and Hermione raced to get out the door.  They wanted to speak to Professor Black about Sirius.  But the sound of Snape's voice stopped them in their tracks.  "Just where do the three of you think you are going?"  he snapped at their retreating backs.

They skidded to a halt.  Harry decided to use his promise to visit Professor Black as a means of escape.  "I promised Professor Black I would see her this week; I wanted to go before lunch today."

Snape's black eyes narrowed suspiciously.  "And your two friends?  Did they also make such a promise?"

"Er…no," Harry admitted, "but they did want to come with me.  They, er, wanted to talk to her about Muggle Studies."

Snape was glowering.  "Granger has no need of such things, she grew up as a Muggle.  As for you, Weasley….  Neither of you have any business with Professor Black.  Granger and Weasley will go straight to lunch, and I had better not catch you trying to double back.  Potter, you will wait a few moments for me, and we will go see the Professor together."  Snape turned on his heel and marched into his office.  

Harry turned to Ron and Hermione.  "You'd better go.  I'll catch up with you at lunch, OK?  Go now, before he gets back."   The two turned and ran out of the room.

Snape returned with a stoppered glass decanter filled with a ruby-red liquid.  "Let's go, Potter, I have things to do today."  There was no conversation as they navigated the Hogwarts hallways to Professor Black's office.  Her door was open and they stepped inside.

She was seated behind her desk, her hat, as usual, hung behind her on a coat rack, her feet were propped up on the desk and she was engrossed in a huge book.  She looked up when she heard them enter and smiled.    

"Severus!  Harry!  How lovely to see you both!"  Her smile became radiant.   She closed the book and pushed it off her lap and onto her desk.  She swung her feet down from the desk, leaned forward on her elbows, still beaming, and raised her eyebrows expectantly.  

Snape didn't respond right away, and Harry was reluctant to speak for fear of irritating him.  He looked somewhat flustered for a moment, but soon regained his composure.   Harry got the feeling that he wasn't used to gorgeous women flashing equally gorgeous smiles in his direction.  "I have the potion you requested, Professor."  He handed her the small bottle.  "Am I correct in assuming that you will require more?"  

"Ah, yes, thank you so much, Severus, I do appreciate it.  Yes, I will need some more, but not just yet, I don't think.  I'll let you know."  She took the bottle from him and set it on a small shelf behind her.   She turned back and gave another small smile.  "Perhaps you could instruct me in its preparation, then I would not need bother you for further batches."

He seemed taken aback by that.  "Of…of course.  That would be wise.  Just, uh, come by when you need more, and I will show you."  He cleared his throat.  "Another thing.  Mr. Potter here claims that you had requested that he see you.  Is this true?"

She chuckled.  "Yes, it is, Severus, I did ask him to come see me.  I need to speak with him…in private, if you don't mind.  Thank you again for the potion.  See you later," she gave Snape another smile and waved as he left.  

When he had gone, she shook her head slightly in exasperation, sighed, and turned her smile to Harry.  "Harry, dear, have a seat.  I'm pleased you came to see me so soon, but if we get to talking, you're going to miss lunch."  She laughed.  "I seem to be destined to make you go hungry!" 

Harry gave her a nervous smile.  He wasn't too sure how to phrase this.  "Um, Professor, can I ask you a question?  I don't want to offend you or anything…"

"Of course, Harry. Ask away."  

"Um…are you related to Sirius Black?"  Harry blurted it out in a rush.

Professor Black looked shocked for a second, then looked long and hard at Harry.  She suddenly got up, crossed the office, looked out into the hallway, then shut the door.  She turned to face him, folding her arms in front of her.  "What ever gave you the idea to ask that question?"

Harry didn't want to betray Sirius if he could help it.  "Well…uh…you have the same last name…." He answered lamely.

"Black is a rather common last name, Harry," she replied quietly.  

Harry sighed.  "OK, OK.  Sirius is my godfather, and, well, we keep in touch.  I got a letter from him this morning and in it he said, 'Tell my sister I said hello.'  I didn't know he had a sister, and you were the only possibility I could think of…" he trailed off.   

Professor Black sighed and slumped her shoulders.  She went back and sat behind her desk.  "So he all but told you, did he?"  She gave Harry a rather lop-sided grin.  "Yes, Sirius is my brother.  Half-brother, actually.  We have the same father."

Her eyes became distant for a moment.  "Sirius's mother died when he was seven.  His father remarried – my mother.   Sirius was ten when I was born.  We were always so close.  Neither of us had any other brothers or sisters, it was just the two of us.  Just after he left Hogwarts, my mother and father started arguing and fighting a lot.  I think my mother wanted to leave because she was afraid of Voldemort – don't look so shocked Harry, it's just a name."

"Oh, no," said Harry, "I'm not scared or anything; I was just surprised that you weren't afraid to say his name like most people are."  

"Anyway," she continued, "my parents separated when my mother got the job in America.  She left with me, and my father stayed behind with Sirius."

"Where is your father now?"  Harry asked, curious.

"Dead," she replied.  "When Sirius was sent to prison without a trial it…it destroyed him.  He was questioned as well, of course, but he had no knowledge of anything.  He died about two years later."

She sighed and continued.  "He wrote to me the day Sirius was taken.  He told my mother to not return to Britain in case they tried to question us, too.   Of course, in America, nobody really worried about Voldemort.  In fact, there were a lot of wizards who had never ever heard of him before.   I was so surprised when I got an owl from Sirius two years ago, telling me he had broken out of prison.  I knew in my heart he was innocent – he loved your father like the brother he never had.   I've been trying to get a position here ever since."  

"Did your mother ever want to come home?"  he asked.

"No, she was afraid to, I think, though there is nothing at all to tie her to Sirius, since she divorced Father and wasn't his real mother anyway.   I knew she'd never come back here, but I always wanted to.  I wanted to see my brother again, and maybe help get his name cleared.  Also," she looked pointedly at Harry, "I promised Sirius when I accepted the position here that I would keep and eye on you, and make sure that Professor Snape doesn't give you too hard of a year.  He seems to think that Severus will try to make your life…problematic."

Harry snorted and rolled his eyes.  She laughed at him.  "Don't you pay any attention to him, Harry.  Severus is the way he is for a reason, and it's never going to change until he decides to do it himself and lets go of the past."

"That'll be the day," Harry muttered under his breath.  

"Ha ha!  You are so funny, Harry, you really are.  I can see why Sirius is so very fond of you.  He is, you know," her eyes softened.

"Yeah," Harry said quietly.  "I know.  I'm fond of him, too."

"Good.  I'm glad you are, because I think we are going to be seeing a lot of each other, Harry.  And of Sirius, too, hopefully.  Oh, and that you for the message from him, though I expect the only reason he did that was to see if you could figure it out on your own.  There was no need for you to pass on a greeting from him; I got one just yesterday myself."  She grinned at Harry.  "Now, you best run along and get some lunch.  I think I will, too, teaching is hungry work, just like learning." 

Harry got up to leave when he suddenly thought of something.  "Professor, uh, if you don't mind my asking…what is that potion that Sn…Professor Snape gave you?"

"This?" she asked, pointing at the bottle.  "That is a little something that I am going to use in a week or so, for a little personal project of mine.  Don't look so shocked, Harry.  I'm not sick or anything, and Severus isn't going to try to poison me – it's not a potion to be drunk, anyway."

Harry stared at her.  How could she have possibly known what he was thinking?  She laughed again.  "Silly.  Sirius and Lupin told me all about the Wolfsbane potion two years ago.  Lupin knew that you thought it might be poisoned."

"You know Professor Lupin, too?"  Harry asked, incredulous.

"Yes, I do, though only through Sirius.  I'd met him a few times, long ago, when I was younger and Sirius was here at Hogwarts.  He came to visit during holidays.  We kept in contact after Sirius's arrest.  I stopped by his house when I first got back in the country, but he had already moved on.  Come on, then, it's almost lunch time.  I'll talk to you later, Harry."  She got up and ushered him toward the exit.

She put her hand on his arm to stop him, just as he reached the door.  She looked directly into his eyes.  "Harry, I'd very much appreciate it if you didn't say anything to…certain teachers at this school about Sirius and I.  You know how some of them feel about him."  Harry had no doubt whom she was referring to.  "When the time is right, I would like to be the one who says it.  Can you do that?"

Harry smiled at his godfather's sister.  "You can count on me, Professor."

Quidditch season was fast approaching, and Harry was delighted to get out his Firebolt and start flying again.  The Inter-House Quidditch Cup had not been held last year due to the ill-fated Triwizard Tournament, and the only flying Harry had done was during the first task against the Hungarian Horntail dragon.  

Angelina Johnson was Captain this year, and she was every bit as militant about practices as Wood had been.   Harry's Firebolt led to a whole new playbook for the team, but one that everyone was sure would secure a victory for them in their first match, and hopefully the Quidditch Cup again.  But what excited Harry the most about the upcoming game was the letter he had received about two weeks before the match.

He, Ron, and Hermione were at breakfast when the owls arrived with the morning mail.  A large screech owl deposited a letter on top of Harry's toast before swooping back out of the Great Hall.  Harry looked at the unfamiliar writing and ripped it open.

He nudged Ron.  "It's from Professor Lupin!"  Ron and Hermione leaned in closer.

Harry read, "Dear Harry, I just wanted to let you know that Professor Dumbledore invited me to attend the upcoming Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw.  I should be easy to spot, as Snuffles (you remember my dog, Snuffles) will be with me.   Be sure to stop off and have a word with me after the game.  See you then, Remus."

Harry grinned.  "It will be so good to see Lupin and Snuffles again," he said as he folded the letter up and stuck it in one of his textbooks.  "I wonder if Professor Black knows that they're coming?"

"I'm sure Lupin will tell her," said Hermione.  "Come on, it's almost time for class.  I'll see you for Potions – the Polyjuice potion should be ready today, I'll bet we'll have to test it out with each other."

Ron grimaced.  "Ugh.  That stuff is enough to make a _troll_ vomit; I don't think I can stand to drink it again!"

"We have to," Harry reminded him.  "We can't let Snape know that we've made it before.  We'll just have to force it down."  He shuddered.  "Only I don't know how easy that's going to be."

Ron squeezed his eyes shut again and shook his head.  "Yuck.  Say, Hermione, make sure you get _human hair_ this time, all right?"  They all laughed as Ron dodged Hermoine's punch and they headed off to class.  

Divination let out early, much to their relief, so Harry and Ron were waiting for Hermione outside the hall that led to Professor Snape's classroom in the dungeons.   Hermoine waved eagerly when she saw them.

"I ran into Professor Black on my way to Arithmancy.  She said that the three of us should stop by her office this afternoon; she has something to show us."

"What do you think it is?" Harry asked.

"Maybe it's Snuffles," said Ron.

"I doubt it," said Harry.  "I'll bet it's that 'personal project' that she mentioned when I went to her office with Snape.  He took her some potion, and she said it was for something special."  
  
"I can't wait to see what it is," said Ron, as they seated themselves around their smoking, bubbling cauldron, "and-" He was quickly silenced by Hermione's elbow in his side; Snape had come into the classroom from his office and was glaring at them all.  He waited, an unpleasant look on his face, until the last few students filed in.  

He cleared his throat.  "The Polyjuice Potion you have been making is now ready.  The final step before drinking is to add the hair from the person whose form you wish to assume."  He watched as the students' faces turned various shades of green, and a few swallowed hard, at the smell of the noxious liquid.  

"However, because the effects of the potion last for one hour, you would not be able to change back in time to leave this class, and it would be…shocking…for other students to see this in the hallway or at lunch." A collective sigh of relief rose from the listening class.

He leveled a sharp look at them.  "_However_, it would be a waste indeed of a learning opportunity, so each of you will be consuming some of the potion, with pieces of you own hair in it.  This way, you will be able to experience some of the effects of the potion without actually undergoing a full transformation."

Everyone eyed their cauldrons with a mixture of dread and disbelief.  Malfoy raised his hand, a smug look on his face.  "Professor Snape?"

"Malfoy?" he replied.

"I was wondering, Professor, if there was any way that we could see the transformation _in action_?" He looked sincerely interested; Ron rolled his eyes at the condescending tone.   "I mean, drinking it with my own hairs might give me the experience of the taste, but I won't get to experience of seeing or feeling the actual transformation.   It seems like we could learn a lot more by watching someone actually drink the correct formula."  His eyes were wide and innocent, and he looked pleadingly at the teacher.

Snape pursed his lips and thought for a moment.  "I do see your point, Malfoy.  It does seem a shame to waste such a valuable learning opportunity."  He swung his gaze away from Malfoy to the front table.  

"Granger, bring me a cupful of your potion and come up here," he ordered.  Hermione blanched, but did as she was instructed.  Malfoy and the other Slytherins snickered and watched with undisguised glee.  She handed Snape the cup filled with the bubbling potion; he pulled out a small knife, reached out, and carefully cut a few pieces of hair from Hermione's head.   "Malfoy, front and center," he snapped.  

Malfoy came forward, looking confused.  Snape turned abruptly and held the cup out to him.   "Here," he said shortly.

"Wh-what?" said Malfoy, his voice trembling.  "You want _me_ to drink it?"

Snape looked hard at him.  "You said you thought you would learn more by experiencing the full transformation.  So, you will learn."

Malfoy looked horrified.  "I didn't think you'd make ME drink it!"

"Then why did you speak up?" Snape glared at him.  "You have two choices; drink what you requested, or face detention." 

Harry and Ron were having difficulty hiding their smiles.  It was amusing to see Malfoy so utterly dumbstruck, and even more amusing to see Snape doing this to one of the students from his own house.  Just as Malfoy was reaching out a trembling hand to take the cup, there was a noise at the back of the room.  Professor Black was standing in the doorway, her hand over her mouth, trying unsuccessfully to stifle her laughter.   Everyone turned to stare at her.

"Really, now, Severus, that's not very nice," she said, trying to fight back giggles.  She moved forward into the room.

Snape shrugged.  "He requested it."

She smiled, still trying to hold in her laughter.  "Not that it's any of my business how you run your class, but I think your original idea was better.  They should just drink the potion with their own hairs; the transformation _is_ somewhat painful, you know."

The Gryffindors had been shocked and surprised – in a good way – at how Professor Snape was now treating Malfoy like he usually treated them; they were equally shocked at Professor Black's sudden appearance and defense of Malfoy.  The looked uneasily at one another.  

Snape considered this for a moment.  "I do tend to agree with that, however, as Mr. Malfoy so cleverly pointed out, they will learn more by seeing or experiencing the full effects of the potion."

Professor Black reached out, took the cup from Snape, and set it on the desk behind him.  "Surely there is a better way to do that?"  She turned and faced the class, folding her arms across her chest.  

The class gasped.  Malfoy began slowly backing away, terrified.  The two teachers standing before him were shifting, slowly changing, their features dissolving and mutating – and before their minds even grasped what was happening, Snape was suddenly Black and Black was Snape; they were wearing each others' clothing.  The _real_ Snape was scowling somewhat; the real Black had finally given into laughter.   Out of the whole class, Harry, Ron, and Hermione had been the first to recognize the metamorphosis taking place as the Polyjuice Potion wore off – Snape and Black had each taken a draught of potion and turned into each other for the class.  The three students broke into applause and cheers; the rest of the class soon followed.  

"That was brilliant!" said Hermione.  "You acted the parts so well, we had no idea that you had switched!"

"That is why I asked Professor Black to assist me," said Professor Snape, "so you could see for yourselves that it's more than just the look that makes the person; you have to act the part as well."

Black grimaced.  "That's even harder than drinking the stuff.  Well, if you don't mind, Severus, I'm going to go and get the taste out of my mouth.  Here's your robe back."  She pulled the robe off; she had put it on over her own clothes.  Snape did the same.  "Enjoy the rest of the class, kids!"  She waved and as she turned to leave, she looked at Harry, Ron, and Hermione and whispered, "Remember to stop by my office today!"  She closed the door softly behind her.  

The class was still stunned.  Snape wasted no time in getting the class back on track.  "Don't think you're getting away so lucky today.  You WILL drink the potion, with your own hair in it.   Hurry up, let's get going."  He handed Hermione's cup back to her.

Ron sighed and reached for a cup of the potion.  "Here we go again."

Their last afternoon class let out early, so Harry, Ron, and Hermione decided to stop in and see Professor Black.  On the way to her office, they excitedly discussed the upcoming Quidditch match and seeing Lupin and Sirius again.  They weren't really paying attention to where they were going, and when the rounded a corner, they collided with Professor Snape.

"What are you doing out of class?"  He snapped at them.

"Herbology let out early today," said Hermione, "and we're going to see Professor Black."

Snape frowned.  "She's not in her office; I just passed by there.  You three would do well to turn around and head back to your dormitories."  He swept past them without another word.

Harry sighed.  "Well, let's go."

"You don't believe him, do you?" asked Ron.

"I think we'd best just do it and not ask any questions, unless you want to scrub floors again, Ron," said Hermione.  The three turned and headed back toward the tower.

They had not gone very far when they met Professor Black.  She waved cheerily.   "You didn't forget about me, did you?" she asked.  "Still planning on stopping by, I hope."

Harry told her about their meeting with Snape.  She rolled her eyes and sighed in exasperation.  "That man.  He's more trouble than he's worth sometimes." She shook her head.  "Well, if you've got time now, come on back with me."  She turned them around and herded them back to her office.

"What is it you have, Professor?" asked Harry as they walked down the hallway.

"You'll see in a minute," she said, smiling a mysterious smile.  "You'll love it," she added, as they drew up to the office.

She tapped the door handle with her wand, and it unlocked with a faint click.   She pushed the door open and ushered them inside.  Just inside the door, they all gasped.

Along one whole wall of the office was an enormous tank filled with water.  Swimming placidly inside was a huge lionfish, its tendril-like fins spreading out like long grindylow fingers, undulating gently with the current.   A few large rocks decorated the tank bottom and suddenly, from underneath one of them, a head appeared – a snowflake moray eel.  

"An aquarium!" said Harry and Hermione at the same time.

"What are those?" asked Ron.

"A lionfish and an eel," said Professor Black, "my own personal pets."

"What do they do?" said Ron, amazed, as he approached the tank.  

"Nothing, except – don't put your hand in there, Ron!" said Black as she snatched him by the back of his robes, his fingers inches from the water surface.   Harry and Hermione were watching, biting back giggles.   Black spun Ron around to face her.  "These are not harmless magical creatures like the giant squid, Ron.  That eel will bite your fingers off given half a chance, and the lionfish has venomous spines – they deliver quite a wallop and I seriously doubt if Madam Pomfrey would be able to do much."

Ron's eyes grew wide and they rolled sideways to look at the tank again.  "Why do you keep those things?  You're as bad as Hagrid!"

Harry and Hermione finally broke down and laughed.  Professor Black laughed, too.  "As bad as Hagrid, eh?  I'll take that as a compliment.  I happen to be quite fond of him…and Fang, as well.  Isn't that right, Harry?  You remember what I said that night, that Hargid and I have a lot in common, hobby-wise?"

Harry managed to regain control of himself.  "That's right, you did.  I didn't know you liked…well…Muggle pets."

"Remember, I spent a lot of time in the Muggle world.  I always like going to aquariums and zoos, seeing all the animals – I got a fish tank my first year in America, and I've had one ever since.  A friend of mine has been watching these guys for me; I only recently went back to pick them up. That's what-"

She was cut off in mid-sentence by a voice that came echoed off the walls.  "I thought I told you to go back to your dormitories!"

Professor Black pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed.  She looked up to see Snape standing in the office door.  "I beg your pardon?"  she asked, in a rather restrained tone. 

Snape was scowling at them.  "I distinctly told these young Gryffindors to return to their Common Room earlier.  I see they have disobeyed me and come here instead."

Black moved around the three to face Snape.  "I asked them to come see me today, and when I met them on their way back to their rooms, I turned them around and brought them here.  You are not the only teacher here, Severus; if I ask them to come see me, they should be allowed.  It's not after hours, they have no place to be, they are breaking no rules." Her voice softened and her expression changed from irritation to gentle amusement.  "You really do work yourself up too much over the some things." 

The anger had left Snape's face, but he still looked frustrated.  "If you don't mind my asking then, Professor, I'd like to know what you wanted to see them about."  He folded his arms across his chest, looking for all the world like he wasn't going to move until she had satisfied his curiosity.

Black stepped back and waved him into the room.  "See for yourself."

Snape stopped short at the sight of the tank and its occupants.  "Is that what you used the potion for?" he asked, sounding incredulous, and a little awed.  The others in the room exchanged glances at the sudden change in his attitude.  He stepped forward for a closer look.

She seated herself on her desk, looking quite pleased with herself.  "Yes, and it worked very well – better than I expected, I should add.  A compliment to your potion-making skills, Severus.  I could never have done this myself; I have you to thank for my little pets being back with me."

"Little?" whispered Ron behind his hand.  "She IS as bad as Hagrid!"

"Professor Snape!" said Hermione suddenly.  He whirled to look at her.  "Don't put your hand in there!"  Harry and Ron clapped their hands over their mouths – they hadn't been paying attention, and Snape's hand was almost exactly where Ron's had been earlier.  Snape leveled a sharp glare at her.

"I'd listen to her if I were you, Severus," said Professor Black mildly.  "Just minutes before you came storming in here, I had to lecture Ron Weasley here on what one should expect if one puts their hand in that tank.  Did I not, Ron?"

Ron nodded, his face red.   

"Well," Snape said.  He paused, his lips pursed.  He seemed unable to find the words he was looking for.  Finally, he shrugged and turned to the door.  "I guess I shall be going.  Good day, Professor."  The door closed softly behind him.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione all turned as one from staring at Snape's retreating back to staring at Professor Black.  She returned their frank looks with little more than raised eyebrows and a small shake of her head.

"Some people…" she trailed off.  She perked back up quickly though.  "So, what do you think of my aquarium?"

"It's amazing!" said Ron.  "I've never seen anything quite like this before.  I have a frog in a small aquarium at home, but this…"

"Few in the wizarding world keep fish like these.  I happen to like them much more than frog spawn," Black replied.

Hermione was examining the setup.  "Professor Black," she asked, "how did you get the equipment to work?  Electronics don't work very well at Hogwarts."

"Ah, Hermione, I'm glad you asked," replied the Professor, "because it's a rather unusual little outfit.  The potion that our _dear_" – she rolled her eyes – "Professor Snape concocted for me has the interesting property of shielding things from magical auras.  So, I apply the potion to the outside of the equipment, and it allows them to run off electricity without any interference." 

"But how do you get the electricity in here?" asked Harry.  

"Ah, that's my little secret.  But I'll show you."  She bent down and opened up one of the cupboards below the tank.  There was a small generator there, humming away.  "It's bewitched; it runs and runs and never needs recharging or a fuel source.  A little thing I rigged up a few months ago, before I got here.  I knew there would be no electricity available, so I had to come up with something if I wanted my fish here with me."

"Is there some of that potion on the generator, too?" 

"Well, no, not really.  There needs to be a magical aura around the generator so it keeps working.  I only painted the potion around the little outlets here on the side, and on the cords.  I'll need to have more potion soon, though; it doesn't last very long."  She sighed and pressed her fingers against the front of the aquarium.  The eel stretched its body out from its hiding place and bumped against the glass.  "But it's worth it; I missed these guys, I'm glad that I was able to fix it up so I could bring them here."

Harry suddenly remembered the letter from Remus.  "Professor, did you know that Lupin is coming to the Quidditch match?  He's bringing Sirius with him, too."

Her eyes flew open and she glanced at Ron and Hermione.  When they didn't react, she relaxed a little.  She looked at them.  "You know about Sirius, too, then?"  They nodded.

"Good," she said, "because for a brief second there I was afraid Ron and Hermione would panic at the sound of Sirius's name."

"Oh, not us," said Hermione.  "We like Sirius."

A relieved smile danced across Black's face.  "I'm glad you do; it's about time somebody likes him."  Her smile faded and she looked sternly at the three.  "Harry, I've already told you this, but I'm going to say it again for the benefit of you two."  She nodded to Ron and Hermione.  "Don't breathe a word about Sirius and I.  Dumbledore knows – there isn't much that escapes his attention anyway, but he's known for a long time – but nobody else does except for you, me, Remus, and Sirius.   I'd like to keep it that way.  Understood?"

They all smiled and nodded.  "Good," she said.  "Now, I'm going to have to cut our little chat short, as I have an appointment I must get to. Enjoy your evening."


	2. Quidditch Season Begins

The day of the first Quidditch match dawned clear and sunny, with hardly any wind at all.   The Gryffindor team trooped down to the Great Hall together for breakfast in high spirits.  After forcing down a few bites, and some well-wishes from Ron and Hermione, Harry headed upstairs to grab his Firebolt and Quidditch Robes.  Almost as an afterthought, he tucked his wand into his robes; he didn't think he'd need it, but after the dementors, he felt it best to be prepared for anything.

In the locker room a short time later, Angelina Johnston pounded her fist in her hand.  "Let's do this, team!"  They all cheered, pumping their fists in the air, and spilled out into the stadium. 

Meanwhile, up in the stands, Ron and Hermione were keeping an eye out for Lupin and Sirius, as Snuffles.  They had their monoculars with them, and they were scanning the bleachers.

The referee stepped out onto the field, her broomstick in her hand, and spoke with the captains of the two teams.  With a blast on her whistle, she hurled the red ball into the air as the fourteen team members launched themselves into the air.  A moment later, Madam Hooch was also in the air, scrutinizing every move made.

Harry zipped around the stadium a few times, getting the feel of the game.  He expected the opposing Seeker, Cho Chang, to mark him, so he made sure his travels were as fast and indirect as possible.  

On his second pass, his eye was caught by someone in the stands.  Remus Lupin sat watching the game intently; a huge black grizzly-sized dog stood on the seat next to him.  The dog's eyes were fixed on Harry.  When it saw Harry looking in its direction, it wagged its tail madly and barked.  The man next to the dog looked at the dog then looked up as well, and waved to Harry while the dog continued to bark excitedly.  

Harry waved cheerfully at them, then went into a steep dive to avoid a Bludger.  He was only vaguely aware of the game going on around him; he knew both sides had scored, but he had to sneak a look at the scoreboard to find out the real score: Ravenclaw, 30 – Gryffindor, 20.

Suddenly, in a flash of gold, the Snitch raced past him.  In an instant, he had turned and rocketed after it.  Chang, on the opposite end of the field, saw him move and hurtled after him.  But she never had a chance.  Harry's Firebolt gave him an unprecedented advantage, and with his head-start, Ravenclaw's fate was sealed.  Within seconds of going after the Snitch, he had closed his fist around the quivering metallic ball.  A whistle sounded and the stands erupted in cheers and screams.

The rest of the team members hurtled toward Harry like six scarlet comets.  Laughing and cheering, the team descended to the ground where they were met by swarms of students.  

Amidst the celebrating throng and the many hands and arms around him, Harry noticed two very familiar figures making their way toward him.  He was just managing to extricate himself from the mob when his two best friends got to him and flung their arms around his neck in jubilation.

"Harry, that was _amazing_!" shouted Ron.

Harry tugged on both of them.  "Come on, guys – Lupin's over there!"

He hadn't got more than a few steps when Angelina whipped him around into a huge hug.  "Way to go, Harry, I knew you could do it!  Hurry back to the Common Room!"  She disappeared as quickly as she had appeared.  

Harry finally made his way towards Lupin and Sirius.  His godfather, as Snuffles, bounded toward Harry in his huge strides.  Harry knelt down, wrapped his arms around the dog's neck, and whispered, "Good to see you, Sirius."  Harry could have sworn the dog was grinning at him.

Just as he was standing up, he heard another shout. "HARRY!"  Came the familiar bellow.

"Hagrid!" they all cried in unison.  The massive gamekeeper was clumping toward them, while his equally massive dog, Fang, ran ahead to greet Snuffles.  The two dogs circled each other warily for a moment, then began tussling like all dogs do.  Harry had to smile, it was too funny to see what he knew was his godfather, in the form of a huge black dog, rolling around on the ground with Hagrid's dog.

Lupin drew up to Harry and his friends and held out his hand.  They all shook it.

"It's good to see you again, Harry," said Lupin, smiling.  "You're a wonder on that broom."  Harry could only smile at his former mentor.

Hagrid, Fang, and Sirius-Snuffles joined them.  The group turned and headed back toward the castle, while Harry caught up with the news from Lupin.  They followed the crowd out of the stadium, walking across the long green expanse outside the school.  

Sounds of what seemed to be a rather heated discussion reached their ears and made them look around for the source.  They found it in four figures coming from the stands, heading in their direction.  They stopped to watch.

Professor Snape and Professor Black were arguing over the match.  It sounded like Black was winning.

"If you didn't want to lose, Severus, you shouldn't have wagered-" she was cut off by a baying howl from Snuffles, who, with Fang at his side, lunged toward them.

Black stopped, puzzled for a moment, then broke into a huge smile.  "Fang! Snuffles!" she cried, and ran toward them.  Snuffles got to her first; planting his huge paws on shoulders, he plowed into her, knocking her over, and sending both of them tumbling into a heap on the ground.

The enormous black dog was standing over her, and Fang was by its side the next instant; they were both licking her face ecstatically, tails lashing.  She tried to sit up, but the affections of the two dogs proved too much and she toppled over on her back again, laughing.  Everybody else had to laugh and smile at the comical sight.

All but one.  Snape was not smiling or laughing, he was furious.  He frowned as the dogs' high-spirited assault on Professor Black started to get a bit out of hand.  She shrieked, not out of pain or fear, but out of delight; but the one sound was all it took to prod Snape into action.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, Lupin, and Hagrid had watched the encounter with glee.  Lupin turned and whispered to Harry, "This is the first time he's seen her since she was a child, almost 20 years ago."  Harry swallowed and blinked back a few tears.

A sudden movement caught Harry's eye; before he could react, Snape had whipped his wand out of his robes and was advancing on the three figures on the ground.

"_NO!!_" Harry's scream as he seized his own wand took everybody by surprise, except for Snape, who ignored it.   The several groups of students furthest from the school turned at the sound and started running back down the hill.  It was only moments before everybody watching realized what was happening.  

The woman on the ground didn't need moments to analyze the situation; for her, Harry's cry and one glance up was all she needed.  Before Harry's wand was completely out of his robes, she had knocked the dogs aside, flung herself to her feet, and aimed her wand at Snape.

"**_EXPELLIARMUS!!!_**" There was a blinding flash of light.  Harry blinked; when he looked again, Snape was flat on his back, a horrified look on his face.  Professor Black stood there, outraged and furious, holding Snape's wand in her left hand.  The two dogs crouched behind her, confused and frightened.   At least, Fang looked frightened.  Snuffles' posture shifted from anger to fear and back to anger, as he watched the confrontation.  He had not expected Snape to actually try to attack him, though it didn't take him completely by surprise, but he was totally unprepared for his sister's split-second maneuver.  

Snape made a move to get up, but immediately froze when Black thrust her wand toward his chest.

She was so angry, she was shaking.  "You…you…don't you EVER…." Snape had the good sense to keep his mouth shut.

She closed her eyes and seemed to gain some manner of control over her emotions.  She fixed an angry glare at Snape.  "You know so little about me," she whispered, barely loud enough for anyone besides Snape to hear.  She pointed with his wand, still in her left hand, at the dogs behind her.

"If you hurt Fang, you'll have to deal with Hagrid; if you hurt Snuffles, you'll have to deal with Remus.  But before you'd have deal with either of them, you'd find yourself dealing with me."  She paused to let her words sink in.

When she spoke again, her voice was quieter, lower, but far more menacing.  "Don't you ever…EVER…threaten…an…animal…in…my…presence…again."

Snape finally found his voice.  "That's no animal," he started, but she cut him off.

"I've known Remus longer than I've known you, Severus, and I am well aware of your feelings for each other.  But if your dislike for a person leads you to attack his pet, an innocent and defenseless animal…then you're not the man I thought you were." 

Snape started to get up again. "He's not innocent-"

"Shut up.  I don't want to hear it."  She hurled his wand savagely at his feet, turned, and stalked off toward the school.  Lupin called to Snuffles and the two of them went after the retreating figure.  

Dumbledore had remained on the sidelines during the whole situation, looking with amusement at the entire situation, but now he strode forward and offered his hand to Snape, still sprawled on the ground, who took it.  "Her reflexes are as good as ever.  I wouldn't cross her again if I were you, Severus." 

Snape scowled.  "Is that all you're going to say after what she did?" he demanded.

"She was right," Dumbledore replied mildly. "You don't know anything about her; if you did, you would know that her one blind spot is animals, especially dogs."  He leaned in closer to Snape, his face showing irritation.  "And after last year, I would have thought you'd have known better than to do what you just tried to do."  He turned away and headed back up toward the school with Professor Flitwick.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Hagrid had not moved; after the headmaster left, Snape glared at the four of them, but said nothing; after a moment, he stormed off toward the school.

Hagrid turned to the students, obviously uncomfortable with what he had just witnessed.  "You three'd better head back up to t'school now; don' wan' none of yer ter get inter trouble."  The three decided to take Hagrid's advice immediately, as he went back to his hut with Fang.

On the way back, Ron couldn't keep from smiling.  "Did you see what she did to him! That was AMAZING!"

"Yes, and I'd wager that we'd better keep our mouths shut about it.  Snape knows we saw it, and he knows we're friends with her," said Hermione.  "He's not going to forget it, either.  We'd better be on our best behavior around Snape nowadays."

When they arrived at the castle, instead of going up to the Common Room to celebrate with the rest of Gryffindor House, Harry tugged on their robes and pointed down another hallway.  

"I want to check on Professor Black first, and see Sirius for a minute.  Won't be long."  They hurried after him toward her office.

Harry knocked on the door of the office; the muted voices within suddenly switched off.  The door opened to Professor Black's face.  "Harry!  Ron, Hermione, come in."  She stepped aside to let them in the room before shutting the door again.

Inside were Lupin and Sirius in dog form.  He had changed from his human appearance not knowing who was on the other side of the door.   As soon as the door was shut, he turned back into a man and crossed the room to Harry in a few steps, enfolding him in a bone-crushing hug.  Ron and Hermione stood by quietly, waiting; when Sirius released Harry, they both grabbed his hands and shook them heartily, smiling.  

"Good to see you, Harry." He also smiled and nodded at his two friends.  "I wasn't sure how we were going to get out of that little situation down by the Quidditch field, though.  I never expected him to try to expose me…" he trailed off.  "Thanks to my wonderful sis, though – man, what moves Beck."  He grinned at her, stepped back and put his arm around her shoulder, and smiled at her.  She smiled back and hugged her brother.  

Remus stepped forward.  "Are you sure you still want to stay here, Sirius, after what Snape tried?"

Sirius sighed.  "I guess I'd better not.  I can't risk that he might make another attempt to blow my cover."  
  
Harry didn't want to see Sirius leave so soon again.  "Could you stay at the cave near Hosgmeade again?  We'll send you food and stuff."

Sirius pondered this for a moment.  "I supposed I could.  I would like to stay close by for a while, not that I don't enjoy your hospitality, Remus."  

"And I would love to have your nearby, Big Brother," said Rebekah, "but I don't want to risk another repeat of today, either."

"I think," said Lupin, "that Dumbledore will do something to ensure that it won't happen.  But your little mountain retreat might not be a bad idea.  I'd feel better if you kept your distance from Snape for now."

"At least for now, anyway," said Rebekah.  "I'd like to be able to spend some time with you.  I'll work on Severus; I'm not going to let him stand in the way of me seeing my brother."

They turned to the three students.  "You'd all better run along now and get up to the celebration in the Gryffindor Common Room.  I'm sure everyone is wondering where their Seeker is."

"Harry," said Sirius, "that was some amazing flying.  I'm glad to see you and that Firebolt in action."  He took Harry's hand for a parting handshake.  "We'll see each other again soon – hopefully at the next Hosgmeade weekend."

After a round of goodbyes, Harry, Ron, and Hermione left the office and headed up to the common room for the victory party.

Monday morning there was a notice pinned up by the entrance to the Great Hall.  Everyone gathered around to read it.

"Hosgmeade this weekend!" said Ron excitedly.  "I can't wait!"

"I'd better send an owl to Sirius, let him know to meet us," Harry said as they sat down to breakfast.  

Hermione nodded as she buttered her toast.  "Why don't you check with Professor Black, too?" she suggested.  "We could all go together."

Harry thought that was an excellent idea, but there wasn't much time to mull things over as it was soon time for Divination.  Ron and Harry trudged up the long flights of stairs to the top of the North Tower. Both Ron and Harry had been relieved when they finally finished with Tarot Cards, but when Professor Trelawney announced that they would start hypnotism, they both wished they would go back to the cards.

Harry was especially reluctant to enter a hypnotic trance; he did not want to inadvertently expose Sirius.  Ron was equally uneasy about the prospect.  However, fortune smiled on them and Trelawney was so focused on Pavarti and Lavender that she in effect ignored the rest of the class.  It was fairly easy for Harry and Ron to fade into the background and observe…or just let their minds wander.

Neither of them was particularly looking forward to facing Snape in Potions that morning after the incident at the Quidditch match.  Harry would have preferred to stay in the stuffy attic environment that was Divination, but he shouldered his resolve along with Ron and began the long trek down to the dungeons.

They met Hermione outside the Potions classroom and, exchanging a knowing glance between them, they all silently filed inside and sat down quietly at their table.  Snape was there, looking as foul-tempered as ever, but they were all surprised when he kept his bad mood in check and pretty much left them alone after instructing them on the preparation of their latest project, a Hardening Potion.  

The story of the encounter after the Quidditch game had made it around the school since Saturday, but the Gryffindor students had enough sense to keep their mouths shut, and they cut, chopped, stirred, and boiled in strained silence.  The Slytherins, however, were not quite so prudent, and they laughed, joked, and made nasty comments as was their usual practice when they had class with Gryffindor.  Unfortunately for them, Snape had little patience for any classroom disruptions, and the perpetually cocky Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle had their bubbles popped when they found themselves with detention for throwing slug parts across the dungeon.

All in all, it was one of the best Potions classes they had attended, with the exception of the testing of the Polyjuice Potion.  As they entered the Great Hall for lunch, talk turned from Snape's unusual behavior to the upcoming Hosgmeade weekend.  Harry scribbled a quick note to Sirius and left lunch early to run it up to Hedwig in the owlery.  

With the letter delivered, Harry started for his next class, but detoured to Professor Black's office first.  But she was not in her office.  Harry shrugged and went on to class.

He tried to catch her the next day, as well, but she was nowhere to be found.   The teacher once so obvious in the halls of the school was apparently not to be found outside of the classroom.  They knew she was teaching – Hufflepuff students said she had been in class – but even Harry's desperate attempt to catch her between classes came up empty-handed.  He realized he would have to wait until Thursday to speak to her.

Thursday morning, Hedwig brought Harry a response from Sirius.  It was short and to the point:

_Harry, you know where to meet me.  Snuffles_

Harry grinned.  "Well, we know where he is now.  And we can tell Professor Black today."

Professor Black had an interesting surprise for them when the arrived at the Defense Against the Dark Arts class.  The huge sheet-covered object that held a prominent place on her desk was by far the most obvious, but the thing that caught Harry's eye was a small glass vase containing a single yellow-orange rose; flowers had not been part of the characteristic décor of the classroom before, but he put it out of his mind as their teacher approached the front of the class.

"Today," she began, "we are going to move on to something a little more interesting, and a little more dangerous."  The class looked around uneasily at her words.  She reached over to grab the sheet draped over the mysterious object.  She smiled mysteriously.  

"I give you…" with a flourish, she whipped the sheet off and exposed the statute beneath, "…a wyrven."

The class erupted with shouts of excitement and panic.  While Black waited patiently for them to calm down, Harry studied the statue she had uncovered.   It was moving in a repetitive pattern, like a wizard photograph.  It looked like a dragon, only it seemed more sinuous, more cat-like, than the dragon he had flown against during the Triwizard Tournament.  It's head whipped slowly back and forth, its stare panning across the class.  Harry got the feeling it was studying each one of them in turn.

"Calm down," she said, raising her voice slightly to cut through the pandemonium, "this is not a real wyrven, as I'm sure most of you guessed."  She chuckled.  "It's a statue of me in the morning before my first cup of coffee."  There was general laughter throughout the group.  "You don't see wyrvens very often, which is why I wanted to introduce you to them.  They are relatives of the dragon, though smaller, and more intelligent.  Your book doesn't say much about them because, like I said earlier, you don't see them often, and there haven't been any left in this part of the world for several centuries.  They like to live near large bodies of water – oceans preferably.  They feed on seals, fish, the occasional bird, and any humans foolish enough to bother their nesting sites.  There are only two wyrven preserves in the whole world, one in Northern Canada, one in Scandinavia."

They spent the rest of the class doing some comparative biology and working on ways to defend against wyrvens and dragons.  When the hour was up, as the rest of the students streamed toward the door, Harry held back.

"Professor?" he said hesitantly.  

She looked down at him and smiled.  "Yes, Harry?"

"I was wondering," he said, "if you knew that Sirius is going to meet us in Hosgmeade this weekend?"

"Yes, I did know, and I will probably be there.  Sirius and I have twenty years of catch up to do – if it wasn't for Severus, he'd be staying here with me, but as it is, I can only see him on weekends and whenever I have a few spare hours."  She sighed, then smiled.  "I hope you don't mind sharing your godfather with me for a while."

Harry smiled back.  "No, I understand; I just hope you don't mind sharing him with me."

Black laughed.  "No, I don't mind one bit.  And you'd best run along now, Harry.  I'll see you later.  Take care."

"Bye, Professor," said Harry as he turned to go, but stopped as he remembered something.  "Oh, Professor…that's a pretty flower you've got there.  Who gave it to you?"

She looked over at the flower for a long moment, her expression unreadable.  "It was a gift."  She turned back to Harry and smiled.  "And if you can't figure out who sent it to me, I'm not going to tell you."

Saturday seemed a week away, and Harry was on pins and needles with anticipation by Friday evening.  He was anxious to see Sirius again – and have more than just a few minutes' worth of conversation.  

They had gone to visit Hagrid on Friday afternoon, and Harry was not at all surprised to find Professor Black there again, Fang once again plastered to her lap.   Conversation between Hagrid & Black revolved around – of course – animals.  Hagrid had been up to the castle to see her fish, and was suitably impressed with them.

Black remembered to wrap things up in time for dinner, and as they were leaving whispered to Harry, "See you tomorrow."

The next morning arrived (finally!) and everyone chatted excitedly about the upcoming Hosgmeade trip.  It looked like most of the teachers would be going, too; they were all talking just as excitedly as the students.

With a rush of wings, the owls arrived with the mail.  Hedwig didn't bring a letter, but she brought a brief moment of companionship when she swooped down to share a bit of Harry's toast.

At the head table, Professor Black had another one of those mysterious flowers in front of her place.   Suddenly, a large gray owl dropped a bundle in front of her, knocking the flower over.  She looked surprised for a moment, picked up the package, and ripped it open – numerous letters fluttered out onto her plate.  She picked up one, scanned it briefly, then let out a short laugh of surprise.  Her eyes on the paper as she continued to read it, she absently reached out and righted the fallen rose.

Shortly after, she gathered the letters littering the table and left the Great Hall, still reading a letter.  Harry, Ron, and Hermione ran after her.

"Professor!"  they called as they ran up to her.

She turned, the paper still in her hands, and smiled at them.  "Almost ready to go up to Hosgmeade, kids?"  she asked.  "We can go together, as soon as I finish reading these."  She waved the letter in the air.

"Who-" Harry started, but Hermione shushed him.

"Oh, these are from my 'Hearthies'," she said.

"Hearthies?" all three repeated.

She laughed, "Yes, Hearthies. It's a bunch of friends of mine, we call each other Hearthies.  They're mostly Muggles, so they send the letters to a mutual wizard friend by their post, and she forwards them to me by Owl Post."  She glanced back at the letter she had been reading and chuckled.  "That frejaja…what has she done now?"

"Frejaja?" all three chorused in disbelief.

Black grinned.  "Yes, frejaja is her name.  And don't look so puzzled, it's not her real name.  It's her nickname."

"How did she get it?" asked Hermione.  "It's sort of…different."

"I don't know how she got it," the professor replied, "I guess she liked it and gave it to herself." She looked back at the letters, leafing briefly through them.  "They're not all so unusual.  Lindy, Mutai Fayola, Joe, Lavandeo, j'ai beau, Suzzie, EvaC, Oondie, Yondolar, Wyetookay…all members of the Thylacine Hearth."

"Thylacine Hearth?" said Harry.

"What's a thylacine?" asked Ron at the same time.

Hermione answered before Black could. "It's an extinct animal, a marsupial, from Australia."

"What's a marsupial?" was Ron's next question.

"Nevermind," said Hermione.

Professor Black laughed.  "We're just a group of people from all over the world who have a common interest in a series of novels – and no, I'm not going to stand here and explain them to you, it would take too long."  But she was grinning when she said it.  "Some of us know each others' real names, but we usually use our nicknames when we correspond."

Harry looked up at the slim, almost delicate-looking woman.  "What is your nickname, Professor?  What do you they call you?"

"I should think you'd have been able to guess after last weekend."  She gave a wicked smile.  "They call me Rage."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione followed Professor Black to her office; they all wanted to see her aquarium again, and, much to their delight, she had offered to let them feed the fish and learn more about their care.   She was still engrossed in her letters as they walked, so the three kept their conversation to a whisper to avoid disturbing her as much as possible.  

They had just turned the corner into the hallway where her office was located when she stopped suddenly.  Professor Snape was pacing in the hallway outside her office door; he looked up at their approach and scowled slightly when he saw that she was not alone.  She hesitated, then turned to Harry.

"Why don't you three head on out to Hosgmeade now – I'll meet you at Zonko's in about an hour…sound OK?"  They looked at Snape waiting impatiently and then back at Professor Black.  "Go on," she said, "I need to speak with Professor Snape alone.  I'll see you shortly.  Hurry now."  She gave all three of them a gentle push in the direction of the hallway.

The three looked at each other, shrugged, and with one final backwards glance, hurried out toward the school's main doors and Hogmede.

One hour later, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were standing outside Zonko's, their pockets full of tasty treats and food for Sirius, and their heads full of questions.  None of them knew why Snape wanted to talk to Professor Black, nor why she seemed so flustered by it.  

"It's got to be about the incident after the Quidditch match," said Hermione.  "They're bound to be uncomfortable around each other after _that_."

Harry nodded.  "Could be.  Maybe he's apologizing to her for what he did."

Ron looked incredulously at Harry.  "Snape?  _Apologize?_  He wouldn't know the meaning of the word."  He snorted.

"No, I think he might," retorted Harry.  "Just because we don't like him and he obviously doesn't like us, doesn't mean he doesn't feel bad for making a fellow teacher angry.  You saw those flowers she's had lately?"  They nodded.  "I thought they were from Sirius, but now I bet Snape gave them to her, as an apology."

Ron shook his head.  "I never thought I'd see the day when Snape would go all nice and soft like that."  Harry had to laugh; the idea was rather startling.

Hermione nudged him in the ribs.  "Here comes Snuffles."  Sure enough, padding across the square was the big black dog that was Sirius.  Hermione bent down and whistled, and the dog broke into a run towards her.

The three of them fussed and fretted over him, looking for all the world like three innocent children giving a poor stray mutt some much-needed love and affection.   They gave him a few snacks, which he took eagerly, then he started moving off, between the buildings.  They waited for a bit, watched as he circled around, and came out at the far end from behind another building.  Harry looked around for Professor Black, but there was no sign of her; he sighed and nodded to Ron and Hermione to start following.  They started walking in the opposite direction that Sirius had gone, toward the little-used mountain path that led up to the cave.  

They reached the path about the same time that Sirius did, and the four of them climbed the steep trail to Sirius's hideout.  When they entered the cave, they found that the dog had transformed back into a man; Buckbeak was also there, lounging placidly along the far wall.  After emptying their pockets for Sirius, Hermione and Ron hurried to the back.  After a mutual exchange of bows, they were soon stroking and patting him, talking quietly.

Sirius, his mouth full of bread and butterbeer, said to Harry, "I thought Rebekah would be with you today; have you seen her?"

Harry hesitated.  "Uh, she told us that she would meet us…but she hadn't by the time you came by.  I think she had a meeting or something."

Sirius looked puzzled for a moment, but he decided not to pry, to Harry's relief.  He didn't relish the idea of telling his godfather that his sister had stayed behind to talk to Snape.  Sirius shrugged as he reached for a pumpkin pasty.

"So," he said, after a few more bites, "what's new with you?"

Harry filled Sirius in on the latest developments at the school; Ron and Hermione joined them soon after, Buckbeak sitting between them chewing on some chicken they had brought for him.

"Is Snape giving you any trouble?" Sirius asked.

"A little," Harry admitted, "but Professor Black told me that she'd promised you that she would keep him off my back."  They all laughed.

"Is she?" asked Sirius next.

Harry laughed again.  "Yeah – and you should see how flustered Snape gets whenever she gets us off the hook!"

Sirius laughed, a loud, hearty laugh, and nearly shot butterbeer out his nose.  "That's good to hear; I won't have him tormenting my godson, no sir.  And what she did to him after the Quidditch match…I'd have never guessed my little sis capable of something like that."

"Capable of what?" came a voice from the mouth of the cave.  They all turned to look; Rebekah had finally arrived, a large bag slung over her shoulder.

"Beck!" Sirius cried as he leapt to his feet and rushed to give her a hug.  "I was worried you weren't going to make it.  Where were you?"

She returned his hug and brushed off his comment.  "I got sidetracked with school work."  She bowed to Buckbeak, who quickly returned the gesture, and she patted his neck affectionately.  He nuzzled her hand, looking for food, and she opened the bag to reveal a veritable pantry.

While the hippogriff contented himself with a large side of ham, Rebekah settled down to chat with Sirius and company.   They passed the hours away regaling everyone with tales from their childhood, the games they played, the places they went together.  Harry finally got an idea of just how much they cared for each other – they sat next to each other while they talked, often reaching out to clasp the other's hand or give a hug.  At one point, Rebekah leaned her head against Sirius's shoulder, and he put an arm around her shoulders.

"I never thought I'd see you again, Sirius," she said softly.  "I've missed you so much."  A single tear rolled down her cheek, which she wiped away with the back of her hand.

Sirius seemed overcome himself.  "I never thought to see you again, either.  So much time, so many years, lost.  We can catch up with the stories, but we can never take back the time that we missed.  Ah, little sister…I'm so happy we're back together."  He seemed close to tears himself.

The three watching were holding back tears themselves, but it was most difficult for Harry.  Ron and Hermione genuinely liked Sirius, were friends with him, and had risked themselves to save him, but for Harry, his godfather was the only link he had to his past, to the parents he barely remembered, to a life that he never got to live.  He knew what Sirius had suffered, what he had to live with, the betrayal he had to come to terms with, and it nearly broke Harry's heart to see him in such pain.

The two long-lost siblings mastered their emotions, and the playful, teasing tone crept back into Sirius's voice.  "So, sis, tell me…you're not married?  Still single?  Why?  I have a good enough excuse for my bachelorhood – twelve years in Azkaban will do that to a man – but you!  Young, smart, beautiful…" His eyes twinkled mischievously.

To their surprise, Rebekah actually blushed, and ducked her head.  She smiled at her brother, and the smile quickly became a mocking grin.  "Well, now, where am I going to find a man as wonderful as you, dear brother?"

Everyone burst out laughing at the look of shock on Sirius's face.  A moment later, he joined them, shaking his head at his sister.  "God, you're as quick with your brain as you are on your feet.  Now I know where all the family brains went!"

Time soon came for everyone to return to the school.  Sirius didn't want any of them to get in trouble, even if they did have a teacher with them.  They promised to send Hedwig with more food the next day, even though Sirius had enough to last him and Buckbeak almost an entire week.   Sirius gave his sister one final hug and shook hands with Ron, Hermione, and Harry.  As they turned to go, Sirius put his had on Harry's shoulder and held him back for a moment.  "Keep an eye on Rebekah for me, will you Harry?  There's something she's not telling me."

Harry locked eyes with his godfather and nodded.  Then he followed his friends out of the cave and down the winding mountain path to Hosgmeade.

The next week sped by, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione were too busy with school (and Harry with Quidditch practice) to do anything except homework.  Harry did manage to send Hedwig off with some food and a quick note to Sirius on Monday, but little else.  Friday was Halloween, and the school was abuzz with anticipation of the festivities to come.

On Halloween night, they entered the Great Hall for the dinner feast to find floating jack-o-lanterns, fluttering bats, and black cats peeping at them from high perches and shadowy corners.  

Harry saw Professor Black settling herself in her chair; she looked up and saw him and waved cheerily.  He waved back.  He noticed that she and Flitwick had switched seats – she was sitting on his right side, next to Professor Snape.

The food was delicious – it was always delicious – and there was freshly baked pumpkin pie for desert.  Harry looked up at the head tables and saw Snape lean over and say something to Professor Black.  She was smiling and nodding, and while she was listening she reached over and picked up her goblet.  Just as she was taking a drink, whatever it was that Snape said to her must have been funny because she choked, nearly spewing pumpkin juice all over the table, banged her goblet down on the table, leaned her head down and gave herself over to laughter.  

Harry's jaw dropped; he grabbed Ron and Hermione's arms and hissed, "Look!"  They looked, and their jaws dropped too – right there, next to the Professor Black (who was still doubled over with the giggles), Professor Snape was _laughing_.  

The rest of the school saw it, too, and the silence spread out like ripples in a pond; nobody had ever seen Snape even smile before, much less laugh.  Black still had not caught her breath and was now hiding her face in her hands, still giggling.  

With everyone so quiet, they could hear the few words she was managing to gasp out, "Oh, God, Severus….that was the funniest…"

By the time she managed to bring her hilarity under control, the teachers were staring as well as the students.  Wiping tears from her eyes, and shaking her head in disbelief, she said, "Severus, if you're going to tell me a joke like that, please – PLEASE – let me put my drink down first, OK?"

The teachers all burst into laughter at the matter-of-fact statement.  Black waved an apology to Dumbledore just as she collapsed into giggles again, this time leaning on Snape's shoulder as she tried in vain to control herself.  Snape looked down at her in disbelief.  "It wasn't _that_ funny, Rebekah!"  The only affect it had was to cause another spasm of laughter to shake her body.

Still chuckling himself, Dumbledore looked out at the students.  "Nothing to be so shocked over, just a rather amusing joke.  Don't stop your own feasting on account of Professor Black's case of the giggles."

If nothing else, his statement broke the tension in the hall, and the students laughed themselves and went back to their pumpkin pie and ice cream.   Soon after, content and full, they trudged sleepily up the long, winding staircases to their dormitories for a peaceful night's sleep.

November at Hogwarts was cold, damp, and dreary.  Ron and Harry almost looked forward to Divination, if only for the fact that Professor Trelawney always had a roaring fire blazing in her attic classroom.   However, any warmth they absorbed while dozing in Divination was quickly doused by their double hour in the dungeon with Snape.

After seeing Snape and Black laughing together at the Halloween feast, Harry had harbored a tiny glimmer of hope that perhaps the perpetually mean-spirited professor would lighten up, but that idea was dispelled in the very next Potions class when Snape took twenty points from Harry for "breathing loudly".   

As late fall progressed into winter, Harry continued to be on Snape's bad side, no matter how hard he tried to keep out of trouble.  He, along with the rest of the Gryffindor students, were looking forward to the Christmas holidays for a bit of a reprieve.  Both Ron and Hermione decided that they would stay at school for the holidays instead of going home.  But there were few who were; they had all stayed behind the year before due to the Triwizard Tournament, and were anxious to spend Christmas with their families again.

Harry counted down the days until classes let out for the break, and it seemed that they didn't pass fast enough for his liking.  He was thrilled when it was announced that another Hosgmeade trip was planned for the Saturday before the last week of classes.  He hadn't heard from Sirius recently and had not been able to speak to Professor Black alone, and he was worried.  

When he learned the date for the Hosgmeade trip, he sent Hedwig off with a letter to let Sirius know they were coming.  He decided to ask Professor Black if she had heard from her brother.  Thursday after class he stopped by her desk on the way out.

"What's on your mind, Harry?" she asked, smiling at him.

"I was just wondering if you'd heard from Sirius recently," he said, "because I haven't."

She shook her head.  "I think he went back to Lupin's for a little bit.  When did you write him?"

"Tuesday," said Harry.

Black pursed her lips and looked thoughtful.  "He must be with Remus, then, or you would have heard from him by now.  I'd dash out there to check, but it's the full moon still, and you know what that means…." 

Harry grimaced.  "Guess I'll just wait to hear from him, then."

Black laughed.  "Yes, that's probably for the best.  And Harry, even if you don't hear from him…enjoy your weekend at Hosgmeade, OK?"

He smiled.  "Will do."

The letter from Sirius arrived Saturday morning at breakfast.  Professor Black had been right – he had been with Lupin – but he was back at the cave now and was looking forward to their visit.  He asked, of course, for any food they could manage to bring, as well as his sister.  "Make sure she comes along with you this time," were his exact words.  Harry grinned as he pocketed the letter.

"Now she has to come with us," said Ron, "no more staying behind to talk to Snape!"

Harry laughed.  "No excuses! We'll tell her after breakfast."

Hermione shook her head.  "Snape's been patrolling the hallways lately.  Harry, you'd be better of going to see her yourself and meeting us there.  He's bound to find some excuse to give us detention or something if he finds all three of us together."

"Hermione's right," said Harry, "I don't want to risk not being able to see Sirius.  You guys go on ahead to Hosgmeade and up to the cave; I'll be along with Professor Black later.  OK?"

They nodded, and shortly after they left the Great Hall; Ron and Hermione headed for the front doors of the school while Harry went down the long hallway toward Professor Black's office.

The corridors were empty, but Harry couldn't help but jump at every noise he heard, certain that Snape was just around the corner, waiting to catch him.  He arrived at the door to Black's office without mishap, and breathed a sigh of relief.  The door was cracked just slightly, and he could hear voices coming from inside.  He knocked, and the voices stopped.

"Come in!" he heard Professor Black's voice come from behind the door.

He pushed the door open and peered into the room.  Black was in her usual position in her chair, feet propped up on the desk.  Sitting in one of the chairs in front of her desk was Professor Snape.

"I…uh…didn't mean to interrupt, Professor," Harry stammered, "but, uh…well, I wanted to talk to you…alone," he finished quickly.  "If you have a minute."

Black smiled.  "Of course I do, Harry.  Severus, if you'll excuse me for just a moment?"  She extended a hand toward Harry, who moved rather hesitantly into the room.  

Snape was scowling.  "If you _insist_, Professor.  I will wait in the hallway."  He stormed out, brushing past Harry, and slamming the door behind him.

Black shook her head.  "It's a wonder he hasn't dropped dead of a stroke or heart attack by now.  Anyway, Harry, you wanted to ask me…?"

Harry dropped his voice to a whisper and pulled the letter from Sirius out from his robes.  "It's just that I got this today, Professor, and your brother insists that you come up to Hosgmeade with us today."  

She read the letter and a smile danced across her face.  "Oh, good, he's back.  Yes, I will go with you…Harry, give me thirty minutes to push Severus back into his dungeon, and I'm all yours.  I'll meet you outside the Great Hall."

"All right," said Harry, smiling.  "That will give me time to sneak some food out of the kitchens for Sirius."

Black rose from her seat and opened the door to where Snape paced restlessly in the hallway.  He looked up as they came out into the hallway, and his expression as he looked at Harry could have curdled milk.  "Well?" he snapped, "Have you two quite finished your little chat, though what of any importance Potter could have to say I do not know."

Harry glanced nervously up at Black and saw that her eyes had narrowed and she was not smiling any more.  "Severus…that will be enough of that. Harry," she turned to him, "I'll see you later."   She reached out her hand to Snape as Harry headed off to the kitchens and pulled him toward the door.  Harry wasn't quite out of earshot and he heard Professor Black's voice as she and Snape retreated into her office: "He's just a child, for heaven's sake, Severus, you shouldn't treat him like that…"

Harry smiled and practically skipped down to the kitchens to get some food for Sirius.  He wasn't sure if Snape would listen to Professor Black, but at least someone was standing up and defending him.  He couldn't wait to tell Sirius.

Thirty minutes later, Harry sat on the steps outside the Great Hall, waiting for Professor Black to arrive.  He had a packet of food tucked in his robes for Sirius with baked chicken, potatoes, carrots, and several roast beef sandwiches.  He let his mind wander while he waited, thinking about the holidays, Quidditch, just about anything that crossed his mind-

"Potter!" He was jolted out of his reverie by the familiar voice snarling his name.  He looked up to see Professor Snape (of _course_, it had to be Snape! he thought) striding up the hall towards him.  "May I ask what you are doing here?  You should be up at Hosgmeade…or in your common room."

"I'm waiting for Professor Black; she asked me to meet her here," Harry replied.

Snape's eyes narrowed.  Before he could say anything, however, Harry's savior came around the corner.  "Severus!"

Snape whirled to face Professor Black.  She wasn't smiling.  "I told you to leave him alone."  Snape turned and left without another word.

She turned to Harry and smiled.  "Now that we're both here, shall we go?"


	3. Corridor Surprise

Harry enjoyed the day with Sirius, as he always did.  When they arrived at the little mountain cave, they discovered that Ron had brought his wizard chess set along, and he and Sirius were locked in a game that, at the moment, seemed to be at an impasse.  

Sirius was pleased with the food that Harry brought, as well as seeing his sister again.  He told them how he had gone to stay with Lupin during his werewolf transformation to keep him company.  He asked for news about school and Harry's classes; then he turned to his sister.

"You were late again, sis.  What kept you?"

She laughed.  "I was busy keeping Snape out of your dear godson's hair, Sirius, and that does not come easy.  He is persistent, that one."

Sirius frowned.  "I hope he's not too much of a problem for you – for either of you," he added, looking at Harry.

Harry just shook his head and laughed.  Rebekah joined him.  "Better him in my hair than in Harry's. I can handle him."

Sirius didn't look convinced, but he said nothing and soon turned his full attention back to the chess game with Ron, who had managed to capture two important pieces while his opponent was distracted.

Harry, as always, felt a pang of nostalgia when it came time to leave; he wished he could stay with Sirius, but he knew it wasn't possible, not as long as Sirius was still a hunted man and Peter Pettigrew still on the loose.  He swallowed his disappointment, and bid Sirius farewell; everyone else did the same, and the four returned to the Hogwarts castle.

When they arrive back at the school, Professor Black put a hand on Harry's arm and held him back.  "Ron, Hermione, I need to speak with Harry alone for a second; I'll send him along in just a few minutes."  Harry's friends nodded with understanding and hurried away to give them some privacy.

Black looked around to make sure they were alone, then bent down to look directly into Harry's eyes.  "Harry, I don't quite know how to say this, but…please don't take Professor Snape's treatment of you and your friends personally.  I was hoping to convince him to change his behavior, but it's just not as simple as asking nicely.  There's a reason for his behavior, and like I told you before, he's not going to change until he lets go of the past.  I just don't want you going through life believing that you somehow brought this treatment on yourself.  You're a wonderful person, Harry, and nobody deserves to be treated the way you've been treated; not Snape, not your Aunt and Uncle, not anybody.  Negativity breeds negativity, and I don't want you to fall victim to this; I don't want to see you turn out like them.  You're have too much potential, and I don't want to see it ruined."  Harry was surprised to see her blink back tears as she spoke.  "Promise me, Harry; promise me you won't let it get to you."

Harry swallowed and nodded.  "I promise," he whispered.  He was surprised by her next action – she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him to her tightly.

"Professor," he said when she released him, "can I ask you something?"

"Certainly, Harry," she replied, wiping a stray tear from her eye.

"You…you said that Professor Snape needs to let go of the past.  You know what it is, don't you, that makes him the way he is?"  Harry really didn't expect an answer, but he figured it wouldn't hurt to try.  

Professor Black looked at him for a long moment before she spoke.  "Yes, I think I do; but it's not a thing for me to reveal.  You'll have to hear it from him."

Harry rolled his eyes.  "That's not likely to happen, Professor, no matter how nice anybody is to him."

"Do you really want to know, Harry?" she asked.  He nodded.  She sighed and then smiled again.  "If you really want to know…I'll see that you do.  See you later."  She waved goodbye, turned, and headed off to her office.  Harry watched her go, then he, too, turned, and went to the Gryffindor tower.

Sleep eluded Harry that night, just like it had on other occasions, when it seemed that his brain was stuck in overdrive and wouldn't go into park.   So many things were spinning in his head: Sirius, Snape, Professor Black's cryptic statement after the Hosgmeade trip. 

He finally drifted off around midnight, but he wasn't asleep for long.  In the wee hours of the morning, with no sign of the approaching cold, gray dawn, Harry felt something on his chest.  He opened his eyes – the something was Crookshanks, Hermione's ginger-colored puffball of a cat, and he was right on Harry's chest, peering into his eyes, purring. 

Harry sat part-way up and reached for his glasses on the bedside table.  He put them on, and Crookshanks immediately rubbed against Harry's face, purring loudly.  Harry pushed him off gently, smiling; it was then that he saw the note.  A piece of parchment was folded and tucked into the cat's collar.  Harry took the parchment and got out of bed.  He crept to the window and opened the folded paper up.  By the dim starlight filtering in the window, he was able to read:

_Harry, get your cloak and follow Crookshanks.  Prof. Black_

Harry stuffed the parchment under his pillow and reached into his trunk for his invisibility cloak.  He wondered for a moment how Professor Black knew that he had one, then realized that Sirius had probably told her at some point.  He shrugged and drew the cloak tight around him.  As soon as he was concealed, Crookshanks hopped off the bed and trotted down the stairs to the common room.  Harry followed him down through the portrait hole, past the Fat Lady, down the winding staircases, and through a maze of hallways he had never been down before.  He had to move quickly to keep up with Crookshanks, though he tried to be as quiet as possible.  The halls of the castle were silent; everyone was asleep.  Or so it seemed.

Finally, they turned a corner and Harry saw Professor Black seated on a stone bench by a large bay window that looked out towards the shrouded mountaintops.  She was wearing a dark green robe that shimmered slightly in the moonlight.  She had a cup of tea in her hand, and was staring out the window.  She turned as Crookshanks jumped up next to her on the bench and smiled.  She petted and stroked the cat, murmuring softly.  Crookshanks purred and arched against her.

She did not stop petting the cat, but looked up in Harry's direction.  She smiled, held a finger to her lips, and pointed to a large statue.  She motioned for Harry to go behind it.  She looked like she was going to speak, but footfalls echoed in the dark hall behind her and she just signaled him to be quiet and turned back to the window, the cat in her lap.  

Harry crept behind the statue and peeked out.  Professor Snape was walking down the hallway toward them, apparently lost in thought.   Professor Black looked up at him as he approached.  "Severus," she said quietly.  

"Rebekah," he replied, looking up and seeing her there.  "What are you doing up?"

"I couldn't sleep, so I thought a cup of tea and a view outside might calm my mind.  What about you?"

He sat down on the bench next to her.  "The same.  I cannot sleep, either."

Professor Black waved her wand, and a teapot and cup appeared on the bench next to her.  She poured Snape a cup and handed it to him.  "Here, drink this.  It may help."

He took the cup from her and they sipped in silence for a few minutes.  Crookshanks had curled up on the floor by Black's feet.  

Snape sighed and looked at Black.  "Rebekah, I must…apologize for my behavior yesterday."

"I'm not the one you should apologize to; Harry is the one you hurt."

He gave her a sharp look, but it melted into an anguished sort of expression.  "I cannot help it, Rebekah.  Every time I so much as see him…" his voice trailed off.

Black put her cup down and put a hand on his arm.  "Severus," her tone was gentle, "what is it that bothers you so?  It's eating you alive, whatever it is.  Can you tell me?  Will you tell me?"  She reached up and turned his face toward hers.  "If you want the pain to go away, you have to open up.  Please, tell me.  What is troubling you?"

He turned away from her and buried his face in his hands.  He shook his head.  Finally, he spoke.  "I loved her.  Loved her from afar.  I never told her how I felt, I couldn't tell her.  She would never have had me, or so I thought.  So I suffered in silence, hating myself, hating her friends, hating the fact that I was too scared to tell her how I felt.   And then, she found someone else, and I nearly died whenever I saw them together.  I knew it was hopeless.  I knew I'd never be happy."

He drew a shuddering breath; Harry realized that Snape was close to tears.  His words made Harry realize that the man who had so tormented him was himself tormented by his own past, by his own thoughts.  It made him sound so…human.  Black reached out and took his hand in hers, holding it tightly, encouraging him to continue.  But he did not speak right away.

"Who, Severus?" she asked tenderly.  "Who did you love?"

The name came out like a soft cry.  "Lily."

Harry choked back the sound he almost made.  He wasn't sure if it was an outraged cry of anger or a shocked cry of surprise, but he never expected to hear Snape say that he had loved Harry's mother.  Loved his mother who loved another, he reminded himself. 

Snape had his face in his hands again.  Harry thought he might be crying.  Black scooted closer to him and put an arm around his shoulder.  "Lily?" she said.  "Harry's mother?"

Snape nodded.

"And you dislike Harry because…?" she prompted quietly.

Snape took another ragged breath and replied, "Because he looks like James."

"And you are reminded of the man she chose, the man who was not you." 

"He looks like James…except the eyes.  His eyes are her eyes, and every time I see them, I think of her, and I think of what I lost, because of my own cowardice.  I don't hate Harry, I never have – but I hate the feelings that come to the surface.  I hate seeing him and in him I see James and Lily, together, happy.  Now they are both dead, and I've never been happy since."  He stopped, and said no more.  

Black continued to hold him close to her.  She leaned her head on his shoulder while he cried.  Harry was near tears himself.  He had never been so moved by anything before in his life.   After a few minutes, Black reached into her robes and pulled out a handkerchief, which she handed wordlessly to Snape.  He took it and wiped his eyes with it.  

He spoke again, but his voice was gentler than before.  "I'm sorry, Rebekah.  I should not have…" but she shook her head and silenced him.

"No," she said, smiling sadly at him, "you have wanted to tell your story for a long time; you just didn't know it.  Do you feel better now that we have talked?"

He nodded and smiled at her.  She smiled back and gave him a quick hug.  "Go back to bed, Severus, and sleep well."  She got up and offered him her hand.  He stood, held her hand for a moment and looked at her with an expression that Harry couldn't quite fathom.  "Good night, Rebekah."  He turned and left.

As soon as his footsteps had died away, Black sat back down on the bench and started to speak in low tones.  "He has been walking these hallways at this hour for many days now, a tortured soul never at rest; he does not know that I was aware of him.  I told you I would make sure you learned, Harry, and this was the only way I could think of.  I don't know if it makes any difference now, but at least you know."  She paused to drink the last of her tea.  "I'll say the same thing to you that I said to Severus: go back to bed, Harry, and sleep well."  

With that she stood up and walked slowly down the hallway to what Harry assumed were her own private quarters in the castle.  

Harry made the long trip back up to the Gryffindor tower slowly, with Crookshanks by his side.  His head was whirling with the things he had seen and heard from Snape.  _Had he really loved my mother?_ Harry wondered.  _Can love do that to a person?  Did my mother know?  Did my father?_

He had a passing thought to wake Ron and tell him, but decided against it.  He knew that he would tell both him and Hermione – he just wasn't sure when he would tell them.  He wanted some time to think about what he had learned, to piece it together, the come to grips with the bizarre reality that had been shoved in his face that night.

"I asked for it," he said to Crookshanks, who had followed him up to his bed.  "I said I wanted to know, and now I do."   He sighed and crawled into bed and pulled the covers close around him.  He felt Hermione's cat curl up next to him; its warm closeness and gentle purring calmed his mind, and he felt the warm darkness of his dreams overtake him, and he slept.  And throughout his dreams, he kept hearing Snape's voice softly sobbing, "Lily…Lily…Lily."

The next morning, Harry slept late after his clandestine trip to see Professor Black, but the minute he awoke he knew he had to go talk to her.  He dressed quickly – Ron and Hermione were already up and gone – and flew down to the Great Hall to eat a hurried breakfast.

He found his two friends there with a few of their fellow Gryffindors, chatting over their own late breakfasts.  Ron looked up as Harry approached.

"We were wondering when you were going to get up, sleepyhead," he said as Harry sat down to a plate of bacon and eggs.

Harry shook his head, his mouth full.  "I couldn't sleep last night." 

They watched as he wolfed down the food on his plate.  "Slow down, Harry!" said Ron, "You'll choke!"

"I've got to go see Professor Black," he said when he had finally swallowed.  "I'll meet you in the Common Room later."   He gulped down his orange juice and dashed out of the hall, leaving two very confused students staring after him.

Harry ran down the hallway to Professor Black's office; the door was shut and locked, and knocking produced no answer.  Harry turned and ran back the way he came, toward the Staff Room.  He skidded around a corner and collided with something hard and unyielding.

He stood back and looked up into the stern face of Professor Severus Snape.  Harry's eyes opened wide and he tried to stammer out an apology, but the words caught in his throat.  For a moment, neither of them spoke; Snape had the same unreadable expression on his face as he had last night, when Harry watched his conversation with Professor Black.

Finally, Snape said, "Can I help you, Potter?"

Harry blinked.   "Um, yes, sir, I..uh…was looking for Professor Black.  Have…have you seen her?"

If Snape was startled by his question, he hid it well.  He frowned, then stepped aside and gestured to a door behind him.  "She is in the staff room."  Without another word, he turned on his heel and walked away.

Harry stared after him.  Snape had never been so civil to him before; he wondered if it had anything to do with what he had witnessed the night before.  He put it out of his mind and pushed open the door to the staff room.

Professor Black was curled up in a chair by the fire, reading a small paperback book.  She looked up as the door opened and beamed a smile at Harry.  "Hi, there!" she said.  "Come in, Harry, have a seat.  How are you?"

Harry sank into a chair opposite Black.  "Fine, I guess, Professor," he said.  "I came to ask you a question."

She smiled.  "I can probably guess what it is, but go ahead and ask anyway."

He smiled nervously back.  "About last night.  Professor…did you really know?"

Her smile faded and her look turned inward for a moment.  "No, Harry, I didn't.  Not entirely, anyway.  I suspected something along those lines…but I'll freely admit to you that I didn't expect…the intensity."  She smiled again at him.  "Are you OK, Harry?  That had to be quite a shock for you."

"I'm OK, I guess, but it was a bit of a shock," Harry admitted.  "I had no idea…"

Black reached over and patted his arm.  "The best advice I can give you, Harry, is to put it out of your mind.  I wasn't really sure if you should know, but you wanted to; just don't let it get you down.  OK?"

Harry smiled. "Sure thing, Professor."

"Good," she said.  "Now, you're staying for Christmas, right?"  Harry nodded, and she continued.  "I think I'll give you an early present then – Remus and Snuffles are coming to spend Christmas Eve with me, and I'd be very much surprised if they wouldn't want you there, too." 

Harry grinned.  "I can't wait, Professor."  He paused.  "Well, I should be going.  I promised Ron and Hermione I'd meet them upstairs after I saw you."

"Run along then, Harry," she said, smiling, "and have a good day."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were the only students staying behind for the holidays.  The last few days before the holidays sped by quickly and soon the three friends were alone in their own dormitories, enjoying the solitude and holiday season. 

Christmas Eve was especially enjoyable, as Professor Black, Sirius, and Remus Lupin all came up to the Gryffindor Common Room.  They all spent the night toasting marshmallows over the fire, playing wizard chess, singing carols, and generally celebrating the season.  Sirius had decided to risk his human form for the occasion, though he wore a large cowboy hat, and Hermione had charmed a large decorative jingle-bell so that it would ring if anyone approached the Fat Lady's entrance to the Common Room. 

The group shared their presents that evening, instead of waiting until morning.  Sirius gave Harry a solid-gold model of a snitch that fluttered and zipped around a little model Firebolt broomstick.  Everyone had risen to the occasion and got new clothes and a large supply of food for Sirius (and Buckbeak, who was at Lupin's house for the holiday).  It was one of the best Christmases Harry could remember, because he felt like he was really part of a big, loving family, with Sirius as his father and Professor Black as his mother.  

The visitors stayed until very late, but the moon would be full the next night, so Remus and Sirius left the school just after everyone else went to bed, to ensure that they got back to Lupin's house in time for his transformation.  The next morning, Harry, Ron, and Hermione opened the gifts from their respective families (Harry, of course, got nothing from his aunt and uncle, but it was more than made up for by the Weasleys and the Grangers).  

When they went down to the Great Hall for Christmas dinner, they found that Dumbledore had put up all the tables except for the teachers' tables at the head of the room.  Professors Flitwick, McGonagall, Snape, Sprout, and Hagrid were seated around the table alongside the headmaster.  They all waved cheerily when the three students arrived, and beckoned them to come up and join them.

"A Happy Christmas to you three!" said Dumbledore merrily.  "Sit down, sit down, the feast is just beginning." 

Harry looked around as they pulled up chairs.  "Where's Professor Black?"

Just then the doors to the hall opened up and Professor Black walked in.  Just in front of her floated a large assortment of wrapped packages tied with brightly colored bows and ribbons.  

"Merry Christmas!" she called out.  She drew up to the table grinning widely. "Sorry I'm late."

She plopped down in the empty seat next to Snape and waved her wand around the table.  The presents floating behind her flew to each person at the table.  "I brought a little something for everyone!"

Cries of delight erupted around the table as the recipients opened their gifts.  Dumbledore had a pair of thick woolen socks – he winked at Harry as he held them up – and a bag of lemon drops.  McGonagall had a small statue of a cat that looked just like her when she transformed.  Harry, Ron, and Hermione each had a lion statue decorated in red and gold for their house colors.  Flitwick had a music box.  Hagrid laughed as he held up his pewter dragon with a sparkling ruby eyes.  Professor Sprout's box contained a glass rose.

Snape looked puzzled at the item he pulled from his box.  He set it down on his plate.  "What is this?" he asked the woman next to him, gesturing to the small boxy item. 

"It's a stove." She poked it with her wand, and the little pot on top of the miniature stove began to rattle and smoke.  Everyone laughed.  But Snape only looked more confused.

"It's what Muggles use instead of cauldrons," Black said.  "I thought it quite appropriate for the Potions Master."   She poked the stove again and the noise and steam switched off.

Dumbledore laughed heartily.  "Charming!  Thank you so much, Rebekah.  Ah, and here is our dinner!"  Platters and bowls of food appeared on the table, and the assembled eagerly dug into the waiting feast.

Afterwards, stomachs full of food and arms full of presents, Harry, Ron, and Hermione stumbled back up into the Gryffindor Common Room.  One look out the window at the pristine expanse of snow in the courtyard decided their next course of action; they pulled on winter cloaks, hats, and gloves and raced outside to build a snowman.  

An hour or so later, with their snowman project half-finished, Ron changed the course of the afternoon by pelting Hermione with a huge snowball.  Hermione was quick to retaliate and soon the three were embroiled in a full-blown snowball war.  The sound of someone clearing their throat brought them to a halt and they looked around to find Snape standing about five feet away, looking quite irritable.

Before he could say anything, an enormous snowball smashed right into the back of his head, nearly knocking him over.  He regained his footing and glared at the three who were staring at him, wide-eyed and horrified.

"Which one of you did that?" he snarled. 

They shook their heads, still staring in disbelief, and as one they raised their hands and pointed behind Snape.  He whipped around and stared with them.  Coming across the courtyard towards them was Professor Black, dressed in a dark blue velvet winter cloak, her eyes twinkling mischievously.

Snape looked back at the three children standing behind him, then back at Black.  "Did you throw a snowball at me?" he asked.

Black didn't reply until she had reached the spot where he was standing, and tilted her head back to look up at him.  Her hands were clasped loosely behind her back.  "Me?" she said innocently, smiling sweetly.  "You think I threw a snowball at you?"

Snape was at a loss for words.  His irritation had melted away to be replaced by puzzlement.  The small audience watched the confrontation with a mixture of amusement and trepidation.

Snape opened his mouth to say something, but words failed him and he just stood there and stared at the woman, who laughed lightly.  "Well, I'll give you this, Severus; if you think that I did it…you'd be right."  And with that she whipped her hands out from behind her back and smacked the snowball she had been hiding there right into Snape's startled face.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were too shocked to do anything; but Black was doubled over, whooping with glee.  Snape wiped the snow out of his face incredulously.  Before he could do anything, however, Black had raised her wand and pointed it behind him.  

"Harry!  Watch your back!"  she called.  Harry turned around in time to see a cloud of snowballs rise up out of the ground and pelt themselves right at them. The three were knocked flat by the oncoming storm of snow.  The tension was broken and they all burst into shouts of laughter.

Black was wiping tears from her eyes when Snape found his voice.  "Stop!" he shouted.  They all stopped laughing and stared at him; his expression was again impossible to read.  He stalked over to Professor Black who stood up straight, pushed her hair back, and again smiled innocently up at him.

"Professor Black, if you ever do that again, I'll…" he trailed off.

She grinned wickedly.  "You'll what?"

Snape's eyes narrowed.  "This."  Snape bent down, scooped up a handful of snow, and blasted it into Professor Black's face.  She shrieked and flung her own snowball, but Snape was ready for it and ducked.  As the three stunned students watched, Professor Black and Professor Snape were hurling snowballs at each other and ducking the ones aimed at them, laughing and taunting each other.  Harry looked back at his friends, shrugged, and decided to take advantage of the situation.  He hurriedly made a snowball, took aim, and flung it straight at Black.

It exploded on the side of her head and distracted her; Snape's next snowball caught her full in the face. She turned and hurled her next missile toward Harry, but he dodged and it caught Hermione's shoulder instead.  

Ron sprang to Hermione's defense but his next shot was off and instead of hitting Black it hit Snape.  Ron's eyes flew open and his face turned beet red; everyone else stopped, except for Snape.  He flung a snowball at Ron, and in his shock, Ron lost his balance and fell over backwards.  Harry and Hermione roared with surprise and laughter.

Professor Black had one last trick up her sleeve.  She ran toward Snape with a snowball, but instead of throwing it, she dodged behind him, grabbed the back of his cloak, and stuffed the icy cold snow down his back.  

He bellowed in mock outrage and turned quickly, making a wild grab for the offender's robes, but she had dashed out of reach and was stooping to form yet another snowball.  Snape didn't wait for her to make her move.  He shot toward her, grabbing her around her middle, pulling her down into the snow, and tried to stuff his own handful of snow down her robes.

The two tussled on the ground for a moment, but Black was smaller and quicker than her attacker and managed to free herself.  She didn't get far, though, because Ron and Harry tackled her and pinned her to the ground laughing.  She struggled against them, but by that time Snape had pulled himself to his feet and crossed the distance between them.  Laughing, the two boys held Black to the ground while Snape finally managed to repay her with a huge wad of snow down her robes.  

Still laughing, nobody noticed when Hermione snuck up behind Harry and Ron and smacked them both in the face with snowballs.  The final shot in the unusual snowball fight was thrown by Snape, who caught Hermione full in the face, sending her backwards onto the ground.

All five sat there, covered in snow, laughing; Black had tears coming out of her eyes.  When they all finally caught their breath, Snape scrambled to his feet and held a hand out to Black and pulled her upright.  He then offered his hands to Ron and Harry, who grasped them rather hesitantly, while Black helped Hermione.   When they were all standing again, dusting the snow off their robes and out of their hair, Black laughed again.

"I haven't had so much fun since I was a kid!"  she said, a little breathlessly.  "I should do that more often!"  She gave Snape a playful punch in the arm.  

Suddenly Snape's eyes flew open and comprehension dawned on his face as he realized what he had been doing…and with whom.  Ron and Hermione were startled to see his normally pale and sallow face flush red with embarrassment.   But Harry wasn't surprised at all any more – not after that night one week earlier when he had overheard the ordinarily temperamental professor spill his innermost secrets.  

But Harry even surprised himself when he stepped forward and held out his hand to Snape, who looked slightly startled, but took his hand and shook it anyway.  

"Happy Christmas, Professor Snape.  Thanks for the great snowball fight."  He gave both adults a grin, turned, and grabbed Ron and Hermione by the arms and pulled them in the direction of the castle.  After one last incredulous look over their shoulders, they willingly followed Harry back to their dormitory.

Before they were quite out of earshot, Black grabbed Snape's arm and tugged him in the opposite direction.  "Come on, Severus, back to my office and I'll make us some hot chocolate.  Oh, come _on_!" She said, exasperated, when he hesitated.  Finally, with a shrug, he allowed himself to be led away.

Back up in the Common Room, Harry told Ron and Hermione about how Professor Black had summoned him late one night and how Snape had turned up and admitted how he had loved Harry's mother, and everything else that came out in that early-morning meeting.  Ron and Hermione listened with ever-widening eyes.  

"Unbelievable," said Ron.  "Just unbelievable.  Who would have thought a man like that could actually fall in love?"

"Well, I wouldn't have ever believed I'd see him in a snowball fight, but he did today.  And you said he was actually NICE to you?" Hermoine asked.  She shook her head in disbelief.  "Harry, this year could well turn out to be the year that we start to like Potions."

Ron made a face, and Harry laughed at him.  "Ugh!  Like Potions!  Who would have thought!  Now if only we could have it with someone other than the Slytherins…."

Later that afternoon, they went down to the Great Hall for Christmas tea, but they ate alone and in silence, as there were no teachers to be found.  Afterwards, they retired to the Common Room once again and amused themselves with several games of Exploding Snap and a few rounds of Wizard's Chess.  

They were rapidly running out of things to do, and when Hermione suggested that they do some of their holiday assignments, they realized they must be bored indeed because both Ron and Harry agreed that perhaps they should do a bit of work.  They worked for a few hours, until they could see the stars twinkling in the blue-black sky when they looked out the window.

Harry yawned and rubbed his eyes, and watched as Ron and Hermione put away their books and parchment rolls and opted for one more chess match before bed. 

"I'm going to bed," he said to them, "I'll see you in the morning."

"'Night, Harry," they both said as they set up their pieces.  "Sleep tight!" said Hermione, as Harry turned and started up the spiral staircase.

Harry stretched and yawned again when he got to his bed, and pulled on his pajamas and a warm robe.  He was just about to crawl in between the sheets when movement down below in the field outside the castle caught his eye.  Intrigued, he peered out the window and saw two figures walking across the snowy ground, arm in arm.  He tore his gaze away from the window and thundered down the stairs to the Common Room.

"Ron!  Hermione!"  he shouted.  "Come up here and see this!  Hermione, grab your omnoculars first!"  Then he turned, ran back up the steps, threw open his trunk, and rummaged around.

Ron was up the steps in a flash, and ran to the window Harry was pointing to.  Harry appeared beside him, omnoculars in hand.  He pushed open the window and looked through the omnoculars at the couple below.

"It's – it's Professor Black and Snape!" he hissed.  He heard Hermione coming up the steps, panting and out of breath.  "Hermione, quick!"

Soon all three of them were crowded around the open window, peering down through their omnoculars, whispering back and forth about what they were seeing.

"What are they doing?" exclaimed Ron.

Hermione shushed him.  "Quiet!  The window's open, remember?  And they're going for a walk, it looks like."

"I wish we could hear what they were saying," said Harry.

"Easy," said Hermione, smiling in a self-satisfied way.  She pulled her wand out of her robes, aimed it at the two people below, and whispered, "_Audienta elevio!_"

In a rush, the voices of the two Professors far below in the field came to them as clearly as if they were right in front of them.  

Harry and Ron looked at each other, then at Hermione.  "_Standard Book of Spells?_" Harry asked her with a faint smile.  She simply nodded and pointed toward the ground again.

They looked down through their omnoculars again at the pair, listening to their words that were coming out of the air around them.  

"…decide to come back to Britain?" Snape was saying.

"I missed it here, I really did," Black said, "I had looked forward to attending Hogwarts almost my whole life, and then we moved little more than a year before I would have started.  The United States is a great place to live, but home is where the heart is…and my heart has always been here."

"How did you hear about the position opening up?" he asked next.

"Believe it or not, it was Remus Lupin who told me."  She looked over at Snape and saw that he was scowling.  "Now, cut that out," she said, but she was smiling when she said it.  "I know what went on between you two, and if you had made any effort to know the _real_ Remus, you'd know that he NEVER would have played a joke like that on you; he would never wish a werewolf bite on anybody else, not even his worst enemy."

Snape was still glowering.  "Whether or not he was in on it, it was that…that Sirius Black who is really to blame…" Harry hissed at those words, and was nudged into silence again by Hermione. 

But now Black's voice was stern.  "And it's high time you put that behind you as well." She sighed, exasperated.  "Haven't you listened to anything I've said before?  Here's a little American expression for you, and it's quite appropriate: CHILL OUT.  Drop it.  Let it go.  It was years ago, it's all said and done, there's no point in dwelling on it anymore."

"But he-"

"_Drop it_." said Black in a warning tone.  Then, gentler, "Severus, for heavens' sake, let it go.  Look.  It's a beautiful night, the moon is full, it's Christmas…and you're standing here making your blood pressure go sky-high over something that happened what, over twenty years ago?"  

He frowned at her and she gave a little laugh and shook her head.  "You're hopeless, you know that, don't you?"

She got him to laugh, but it was a sarcastic one.  "Hopeless, am I?  Well, you shouldn't have wasted a Christmas gift on me, then…"

She turned to him, appalled.  "What do you mean, _wasted_?  I gave everyone presents because it's Christmas and because I like them.  I gave you one for the same reasons."  She stopped and turned to face him.  "Severus, what is the matter with you?  Your mood has changed today more times than I can count, and I'm never quite sure what you're going to be next.  What is the problem?"

He sighed and hung his head.  "I'm sorry.  It's just…I feel guilty, because…you gave me a present and I didn't give you anything." 

She heaved a sigh, put her hands on his shoulders and shook him gently, forcing him to look at her.  "Severus, for crying out loud…so get me something and quit feeling guilty."  She looped her arm back into his again and started walking again, around the snow-covered frozen lake.  "If you don't cheer up soon, I'll stuff snow down your robes again, see if that doesn't loosen you up a bit."

It must have worked; he laughed, and it wasn't sarcastic.  "Rebekah, put snow down my robes again, and you'll regret it."

Now it was her turn to laugh.  "Well, it worked, didn't it?  Got you to loosen up and enjoy life for a change.  You should do that more often, you know.  It's good for your health, and good for your spirit."

"Good for my spirit, eh?" Snape replied.  "Well, I don't know about that.  I'm not one to act so…freely.  But you, you're different.  Rebekah, you must be the most uninhibited professor Hogwarts has ever seen."

She giggled.  "Uninhibited?  Not really.  I have inhibitions, you know.  I just choose to ignore them sometimes.  Like today.  I wouldn't have smacked just anybody in the face with a snowball, you know."  She grinned up at him.  "You really should do that more often – ignore your inhibitions, just do what's fun and feels good, instead of worrying about is it right or proper or who's going to complain.  Life's too short to waste."

He stopped walking and turned to face her.  "Ignore my inhibitions?"

She stepped back from him, spread her arms wide, and turned in a circle.  "Look at this, Severus!  Look at this night!  I'm enjoying it because it's peaceful, it's beautiful, there's snow on the ground" – with this she flopped over backwards and made a snow angel – "I don't let my inhibitions stop me from doing what I want to do."  Gingerly, she got to her feet and surveyed the impression she had made on the ground.  "A snow angel," she said in response to the unasked question on his face.

"A snow angel?" he said tentatively.

"A snow angel," she repeated.  "Just because I felt like it.  Now my bum is wet, but who cares?  I don't.  And you shouldn't, either."

She walked back to where he was standing with the most baffled look on his face.   "Really, Severus.  You should do what you want to, and to hell with anybody who thinks otherwise.  You see how happy I am – why deny yourself that same joy?"

He stared at her for a long while.  "You really think I should?" he finally said.

"I do indeed."

"You're telling me I should do what I want to, not what everyone else expects me to."

"_Exactly_."

He didn't reply.  She cocked her head to one side.  "Don't tell me that's so hard."

"Well…what if what I want and what everyone expects are the same thing?"

She laughed.  "Then it's that much easier." She bent down and scooped up a handful of snow, patting it carefully into a ball.  "Would you like another example of how it's done?"

"Oh no you don't," he said, wagging his finger at her.  "Not another snowball fight, not now."

She tossed the ball up in the air, catching it in her hand, and looked at him searchingly.  "And why not?  You obviously haven't learned your lesson yet." 

"Maybe I have, and maybe I haven't.  But if you throw that snowball at me, or stuff it down my robes, or whatever equally insidious thing you have in mind…you'll never learn what it is that I'm thinking I should do right now."

She tossed the snowball over her shoulder and shook her head.  "You really are impossible."  She smiled at him.  "Simply impossible."

He drew nearer to her.  "So curse me."

She laughed.  "I just might, if it will get you to lighten up a bit."

"I don't think you really want me to lighten up, Rebekah."  He had stopped teasing now, and was deadly serious. 

"Why?  What are you going to do, strip off your robes and pirouette around the courtyard in your shorts?"  She was grinning at him again.  "I think I'd enjoy seeing that one."

He shook his head.  "No."  He put his hands on her shoulders.  "I'm telling you, you won't like it."

She sighed.  "And just how do you know?"

"Well…I don't."

"Then…?" she prompted.

His hands were still on her shoulders.  He stared at her for a moment.  Then, he slowly moved his hands up to cup her chin. 

Ron, Harry, and Hermione practically dropped their omnoculars.  They stared in disbelief.  She moved closer to him; and with the full moon shining its silver light down on them and the quiet of a peaceful winter's night surrounding them, they watched as the man and woman below shared a long, tender kiss.

"Oh, God," said Harry softly.  "What am I going to say to Sirius?"

The three stood by the open window, staring at each other with wide eyes, and a mixture of shock and amusement on their faces.   Hermione glanced back down, and nudged Harry and Ron.  They all turned to look at the courtyard again.   The moment was over; Black and Snape were facing each other.  He was holding her arms. 

"Now, was that so hard?" Black said softly.

Snape smiled nervously.  "No," he admitted.

The smiled back.  "Good.  Because it's about damn time that you got around to doing that.  I've been waiting for ages."

His eyes flew open.  "What?  How…how did you know?" 

She shrugged.  "It wasn't hard.  You act differently around me than everybody else; I would see you staring at me with a distant look in your eyes; you'd get flustered if I caught you off guard."  She grinned.  "If you hadn't done it, I was just going to do it and get it over with for you."

He stared at her.  "I can't believe it."

She laughed again.  "Well, believe it, because it's true.  I'll admit, I wasn't sure at first.  You're rather…stern.  And unapproachable.  I had to stop and examine my own feelings to decide if I really did like you or not.  And you're in luck, because I do.  I am very fond of you, Severus, which is why I've been campaigning so hard for you to loosen up.  You're a whole lot more fun to be around when you're not so darn rigid." 

He pulled her even closer.  "I can't believe it," he whispered.  "I never thought it could happen."

She wrapped her arms around him.  "Never thought what could happen?"

"You.  Me.  Us.  This.  I…I never thought I'd feel this way again."  He bent down and kissed her again.   When he finally released her, he put an arm around her waist, a little hesitantly, as if he still couldn't believe what was happening, and looked down at her.  "Shall we go back, then?  Perhaps share a cup of tea?"

She leaned into him and sighed.  "Sounds lovely.  Lead on, I'm cold."  They turned and started walking slowly back toward the school, their arms around each other.

Hermione muttered something that Harry couldn't quite make out, but assumed it was the counter-spell to the little eavesdropping one she had done earlier, because the voices immediately died away.  She reached out and closed the window, then looked at the two boys standing next to her, dumbfounded.

"What am I going to say to Sirius?" Harry said again, slightly panicked.    
  
"You're not going to say _anything_ to him," said Hermione.  "We're going to keep our mouths shut and keep this to ourselves.  It's not anybody's business but theirs; we really shouldn't have been listening in…but I was dying to know what they were saying."  She looked slightly embarrassed.  "Who would have thought that the two of them…."

"I can't believe that ANYBODY, much less her, would fall in love with Snape," said Ron.  "But Harry's right, Hermione.  Sirius is going to find out eventually.  He'd probably rather find out from Harry than by seeing the two of them kissing.  Ugh."

Harry nodded.  "Sirius knows something's up with her – he asked me to keep an eye on her, he thought she was hiding something.  We'll, I'd hide it, too, knowing how Snape and Sirius feel about each other.  But I don't think Snape knows that she's his sister – she made us promise to keep it quiet, and you heard what he said tonight, he wouldn't have talked about Sirius like that if he knew." 

Hermione shook her head.  "No.  As much as I agree that it's going to be the shock of a lifetime for Sirius, it's Professor Black's right to tell him – or not.  We're just going to have to forget we even saw this."

Ron buried his face in his hands.  "I'm never going to forget the sight of the two of them kissing.  I'm probably going to have nightmares now."

The other two laughed.  "Well," said Harry, "I'm going to try to go to bed again – I'm so tired, I don't think I'll think much on this until tomorrow."  Hermione waved goodbye and descended the stairs to go to her own dorm.  Harry and Ron crawled into bed, pulled the curtains around themselves, and were soon both fast asleep.

The school was strangely quiet in the few days after Christmas.  On Boxing Day, in order to keep their minds off the romantic scene they had witnessed the night before, Ron and Hermione borrowed two school brooms, Harry shouldered his Firebolt, and they all trooped down to the Quidditch field to play a three-person version of Harry's favorite sport.  It was Hermione's first attempt at playing the game, but she did well enough for a first-timer (and a Muggle, as she pointed out) to impress Ron.  

That night, Harry got an owl from Remus Lupin.

_Harry, Snuffles and I are coming to the school the day after tomorrow to visit Rebekah.  If you can spare an hour or so, I'd like to get together with you to talk._

_Remus_

"Cool," said Ron.  "Only watch what you say and don't spill the beans, Harry."

Harry groaned.  "This is one time that I'm not looking forward to seeing Sirius." 

The morning of Lupin's arrival, Harry woke up early, left a note from Ron and Hermione, and went down to breakfast alone.  While he was eating his breakfast, an owl swooped down and dropped a single piece of parchment on his plate.  In Lupin's scrawled writing he read, "Harry, come down to the side hallway where the teacher's private quarters are; I am waiting for you there.  Remus."  Harry finished his toast, crumpled up the parchment, and headed out the doors.

Harry knew the way – it was the same place he had gone when following Crookshanks the week before the holidays.  He found Professor Lupin sitting on the same bench where Professors Black and Snape had their conversation; he looked like he always did shortly after one of his transformations – dark circles under his eyes, sunken cheeks.  He had a cloak wrapped around him, a familiar teapot was next to him, and he held a steaming mug cupped in his hands.

He looked up as Harry approached and managed a wan smile.  "Harry, so good to see you."  He sounded tired.  "Sit down, care for a cup of tea?"

"Thanks, Professor," said Harry, accepting the cup.  "How are you?"

"About as well as I could expect to be.  And there's no need to call me 'Professor' anymore, I'm not a teacher here.  You can call me Remus."

"OK, Prof – er, Remus." Harry grinned sheepishly.  "Where's Snuffles?"

Lupin gestured out the window in front of them.  Outside, Harry could see Professor Black running around with Sirius in dog form and Fang, Hagrid's gigantic pet.  "They're spending a little quality time together, and I'm recuperating.  I'm glad that Snuffles has been staying with me during my transformations – it makes them so much more bearable.  Makes me feel young again, like I was back in school again."

Harry and Lupin talked of many things that morning – of Harry's patronus, of what had happened the prior year during the Triwizard Tournament and when Voldemort returned, of Ron and Hermione and what was going on at school that year, of Rebekah, and of Sirius.  Lupin told Harry a lot about his father: how James had been such a good and loyal friend, how proud he had been when Harry was born…and how much he missed the both of them.  Both Harry and Lupin blinked back tears on several occasions.  After a time, they sat in silence and watched the frolicking figures through the window.

A voice behind them startled them out of their reverie.  "Good day, Lupin, Potter."  They turned to see Professor Snape standing behind them.  Harry was scared for a brief moment, but, remembering what he had seen a few nights before, he looked up at the man and smiled.  

"Hello, Professor," he said.

"Hello, Severus," said Lupin pleasantly.  "How are you today?"

"Well enough," he said rather stiffly.  "What brings you out to Hogwarts?"

Lupin gestured to the boy next to him.  "I just came out to visit with Harry and catch up on news," he said.  

Snape frowned slightly and looked pointedly out the window.  "I see you brought your _dog_ with you as well," he said.

Lupin smiled.  "Yes, Rebekah is quite fond of animals, as I'm sure you are aware; she enjoys spending time with Snuffles."

"Indeed," said Snape.  "You'll forgive me for asking, but what exactly do you and Mr. Potter have to speak about?"  

Lupin smiled again.  "Harry and I worked together on a few things when I was teaching here, and I like to keep up with him.  Harry," he turned to him, "why don't you show Professor Snape some of what we've worked on?"

Harry grinned delightedly.  "Sure thing."  He pulled his wand out of his robes, raised it and said, "_Expecto patronum!_"

A silver stag erupted from the end of Harry's wand and galloped for a few paces before dissolving into smoky wisps and fading away.

Snape's eyebrows shot up almost to his hairline.  "That was an…admirable Patronus, Mr. Potter.  I am impressed that a student of your age could produce one of such quality."

Harry flashed a wicked grin at Lupin, who was smiling also.  "That's nothing.  I've been able to summon a Patronus for two years now – I was the one that drove away the dementors from the school grounds that one night."

Snape's eyes widened, but he didn't say anything for a moment.  "It seems I may have underestimated you, Potter."  He turned to Lupin and nodded.  "Have a good day, Lupin.  You too, Potter."  

Lupin nodded, and Harry said, "Thanks, Professor.  You, too."  They watched as Snape turned and walked away.

Lupin grinned at Harry.  "Nicely done, Harry.  I think it's good to put him in his place every now and then."

Harry laughed, but then his smile faded.  He looked outside to where Black, Sirius, and Fang were still all running around together.  He lowered his voice and leaned close to Lupin.  "Remus, I have to tell you – if I don't tell someone, I think I'll explode.  We saw something the other night, Ron, Hermione, and I.  You won't believe it – Snape and Professor Black are…they're _in love!_" 

Whatever Lupin was expecting to hear, it certainly wasn't that.  His eyes flew open and his jaw dropped.  "_What?!_ He said.  "In love?  Rebekah and…and Severus?"

Harry nodded and looked around to make sure Snape wasn't hanging out in the shadows.  "Yeah.  We saw them kissing.   We all agreed not to tell Sirius, because we're not supposed to know, and it's her business anyway.  But there's more.  I know that Snape was in love with my mother, but he never told her, and that's why he hated my dad so much.  Snape was crying when he told Professor Black about it.  And then on Christmas Day, Professor Black dragged Snape into a snowball fight with us and he was throwing snowballs at all of us, and Ron even hit him with one, and he didn't even care!  That night was when we saw them walking together, and Snape kissed her."

Lupin had listened to Harry with ever-increasing amazement.  "Severus Snape, in love.  And not only that, but it's being reciprocated.  Unbelievable.  But, if you say you saw it, I'm not inclined to disbelieve you.  As unlikely as I would have thought it…but maybe it is for the best.  I didn't know that he loved Lily – so I can't say whether either she or James knew, either.  But, Harry…does Snape know that Sirius is her brother?"

"I don't think so," replied Harry.  "She made us promise not to say anything, she said that she wanted to be the one to tell, when the time was right, or something like that.  I think Dumbledore's the only other one besides us who know.  And the other night, when we watched them, Snape said something about Sirius, and she changed the subject quick.  I don't think he would have said it to her if he knew."

Lupin sighed and shook his head.  "Amazing.  But Harry, you're right – you can't tell Sirius.  That's for Rebekah to disclose when she's good and ready."

Harry sighed, too.  "Yeah, but it's going to be hard.  He knows that she's hiding something from him – he asked me to keep an eye on her."

"Yes, well, he knows her best – it's hard to hide things from those you love," said Lupin.

"Prof – I mean, Remus, are you feeling up to a walk?  I'd like to go out and see Sirius."

"Sure thing, Harry," said Lupin, putting down his tea cup and slowly standing up.  "A little walk might do me some good.  Oh, Harry, one other thing – I would suggest that you not mention to ANYBODY else about, er, what you know.  They might want to keep it quiet, at least for now.  People are bound to figure it out sometime, but it's best if you let it run its own course."


	4. A Late Christmas Present

Harry spent a few minutes outside with Snuffles, and then they all walked back to the school for an early lunch.   They found Ron and Hermione already there, and Lupin and Professor Black sat with them at the Gryffindor table to eat.   They talked and laughed and ate, but never once did the conversation turn to the secret that Ron, Harry, Hermione, Black – and now Lupin – were carrying.  Harry felt sort of bad that the only person who didn't know what was really going on was Sirius, but he held his tongue just the same; Black is in the dark, too, he told himself – she doesn't know that we know.

Later that day, Remus and Sirius took their leave, but not after Sirius resumed his human form for a few minutes in the security of Black's office to give his sister and godson a proper hug goodbye.  

"I don't know when we'll be back in the area, Harry," said Sirius, "but hopefully we'll be able to see you again around Easter."

"Where are you going?" asked Harry.

Lupin smiled.  "Got a bit of work to do, but we'll keep in touch.  And you keep us posted with what's going on here, OK?"

Harry nodded, and Sirius shook everyone's hand one more time, and give his sister one final hug and a kiss on the cheek.  "See you later, Sis," he said, then transformed back into a dog.

As they all left the office, Harry said, "We'll walk with you to the front doors."  The group proceeded through the castle and just as they arrived at the great doors, they discovered Snape just coming in from outside.

Professor Black waved when she saw him, and Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Lupin exchanged looks.  Sirius, as Snuffles, stopped and moved defensively in front of his sister.  She bent down to scratch behind his ears and whisper, "That's enough now, Snuffles."

"Hi, Severus," she said merrily.  "How are you?"

"Fine, thank you," he replied, then nodded to the assembled group.  "Heading for home now, Lupin?"  he asked.

"Yes, we're off soon," he said mildly.  "Just saying goodbye to everyone before we go."  He turned to Black and gave her a quick hug.  "Take care, now, Rebekah."  He turned to the three kids and shook each of their hands.  "Harry, Ron, Hermione…take care as well."   

They all patted Snuffles on the head, and Black gave the dog a hug and kiss on the nose.  "Bye now.  Talk to you later, Remus."   They all waved goodbye (except, of course, for Snape) as the huge castle doors closed behind Lupin and Snuffles.

They all turned to go, and Snape fell in step next to Black.  "Professor," he said, "do you have a moment?"

"Sure, Severus."  She turned to Harry, Ron, and Hermione.  "I'll talk to you all later, OK?  Have a good rest of the holiday."

The three practically ran back to the Common Room, while Snape and Black walked off in a different direction.

"I told Remus about Snape and Black," Harry said breathlessly once they had crawled through the portrait hole.  "I had to, after Snape cornered us in the hallway."

"You didn't!" said Hermione.  "I thought we weren't going to say anything!"

Harry shrugged.  "He's not going to tell Sirius, either – and he told us to keep quiet about it to everyone else, too."

Ron groaned.  "The best piece of gossip we've ever had, and we can't say a word."

"Remus thinks everyone will find out eventually…and he's right, if they keep going out in plain view of the whole castle for their little romantic encounters."

"Yeah, they-" Ron started, then changed the subject abruptly.  "Hey, Harry, why are you calling him Remus?"

"He told me to, since he's not a teacher here anymore."  Harry suddenly smiled. "Oh, and you should have seen the look on Snape's face when I conjured up my Patronus.  He didn't know whether to be amazed or angry when he found out that I drove all those dementors away that one time!"

Ron and Harry sat down for a game of Wizard's Chess, while Hermione dug out her Arithmancy book to finish up her holiday assignments.

The rest of the holiday passed without incident, unless you counted the day that Professor Black brought the three of them to her office and taught them how to feed her fish and eel, which turned out to involve a handful of shrimp and several live anchovies.

The first week back to class was interesting, in that the rest of the school immediately noticed something different about Professor Snape.  The Gryffindors were thrilled to learn that they weren't getting nearly as many points taking off, and Neville was especially glad that he wasn't being picked on unmercifully during every class.

The Slytherins, however, were quite displeased about the turn of events, and from snatches of conversation that they overheard, Harry, Ron, and Hermione learned that pretty much everybody suspected _something_, but nobody could figure out what it was.

"It's so funny to see them," Hermione said about the Slytherins one day, "scowling and grumpy during Potions because they can't get us into trouble so much anymore." 

"Let's just hope it stays that way," said Ron.  "I'd hate to think what would happen if Snape and Black had a fight or something."

A few days later, they entered the dungeon for Potions and were only slightly surprised to find a complicated arrangement of cauldrons and decanters arranged on a side table, behind which lurked Professor Black and Snape with their heads together – but they were talking, not romancing, and every few moments one of the cauldrons sent up a hiss and puff of red smoke.

"Good morning, Professors!" Harry said cheerfully to them as he, Ron, and Hermione slid into their seats and dumped their bags on the ground next to them – they had started a conscious campaign of public friendliness to Snape since classes had started back up again, and Harry was always careful to smile politely and greet him whenever he saw him, especially when he and Black were together.

Harry approached the tangled mass in front of them with interest.  "What's cooking?"

Black looked up and smiled.  "I'm learning how to make that shielding potion that I use for my aquarium," she said.  "Professor Snape is kind enough to teach me, though I must confess, potion-making has never been my strong suit."  Just then, one of the containers belched forth a cloud of purplish steam, making everyone cough and splutter.  Black waved hand back and forth in an effort to clear the air.

"That's what it's supposed to do, Rebekah," said Snape, "and now you add the ground agrimony."  She did as she was instructed, and the liquid in the cauldron turned a bright yellow-orange.

Just then, Draco Malfoy and the rest of the Slytherin crowd bustled into the class room, stopping short at the sight of the two professors.  Snape moved out from behind the table where they had been working and approached the front of the class.

"What's _she_ doing here?" said Malfoy contemptuously, his eyes narrowed at Black, who ignored him.

Snape frowned.  "Sit down, Malfoy, and kindly do not insult a fellow professor in my class.  Ten points from Slytherin."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione's eyes widened and they looked at each other, but didn't say anything.  Malfoy stared at Snape in disbelief, the flung himself into a chair, muttering under his breath.

"Make that twenty points, Malfoy, and if you say that again, it will be detention."  Snape turned his back on the class and picked up a medium-sized glass jar in which floated some unidentifiable objects.  He took the jar over to Black, set it on the desk, and murmured a few more words on instruction before returning his attention to the assembled students.

"Professor Black will be spending the hour with us today, as she is working on a particularly complex potion; I will remind you all to please pay attention and not get distracted by anything happening on that side of the room.  Now," and with that he turned to the board behind him and began writing out the instructions for the day's lesson.

After class – which Harry had to admit was one of the best, seeing Malfoy's reaction to getting points taken off by his own head of house – as they headed up to the Great Hall for lunch, they overheard the Slytherins making nasty remarks about Professor Black.

Hermoine scowled.  "Typical Slytherin," she muttered.

According to a few of the Hufflepuff students, who had Defense Against the Dark Arts with the Slytherins, Malfoy, in particular, disliked Professor Black, and pretty much divided his time between trying to disrupt her lessons and getting in trouble for it.  Hannah Abbott told them that the main reason why Malfoy doesn't like her is that she associated with Muggles while growing up.

"He says it's just as bad as being Muggle-born," Hannah said, "and he just knows his father would remove him from the school, if he knew that he was being taught by a Mudblood or Muggle."

"Good," said Ron, "maybe he'll do us all a favor and clear out."

And so it was that it didn't come as too much of a surprise to them when they encountered Professor Dumbledore walking down the hall with Lucius Malfoy, who was looking most displeased, at his side.  When they passed them, Mr. Malfoy gave Hermione a scathing look, and his mouth twisted into a sneer; Hermione ignored him.

"I'll bet he's come because of Professor Black," Hermione said once they were out of earshot.  "It sounds just like something that Malfoy would do."

"Maybe he _will_ leave," said Ron gleefully, but Harry shook his head.

"It's more likely he'll try to bully Dumbledore into making her leave, and when that doesn't work, he'll try to bully her directly," Harry said.  "I only hope I'm around to see it when she blasts him into the ground like she did to Snape after the Quidditch match."

"Do you think we should warn her?" suggested Hermione.

Harry frowned.  "She can probably take care of herself, and I'm sure she knows anyway, Dumbledore's bound to tell her, but I haven't seen her outside of class this week at all.  We can ask her tomorrow after Defense Against the Dark Arts." 

Harry was right in guessing that Professor Black knew all about Malfoy's visit to Dumbledore, as well as the reasons behind it, but she refused to discuss the subject with them.    "That's none of your concern," she said, "so put it out of your minds.  And there's no need to rush off and send Sirius and owl, I've already told him."  And that was the end of the discussion, as Professor Snape had appeared in the doorway to her classroom, and the three decided to beat a hasty retreat before they saw something they really didn't want to see again.

"If they don't quit hanging out together all the time," said Ron, "the whole school's going to figure out what's going on between them."

Hermione rolled her eyes.  "Well, Ron, it's not like they'd want to stay away from each other.  But you're right – people are starting to talk.  I heard a couple of Ravenclaw fourth years talking about seeing them together, and I'd bet anything that Malfoy's pieced it together by now.  Did you see them at dinner last night?  Heads together the whole night, talking and laughing; and at breakfast again this morning."

"I guess he still doesn't know about her and Sirius – but I'm going to hate to see it once he does.  Who knows what he'll do?"  Harry said.  "If he hurts her, I'll…"

"You'll what?" said Ron with a laugh.  "He'll poison you or hex you in a heartbeat – he'd probably do that anyway, once he does figure it out, just because he knows you know Sirius!"

It seemed that Hermione's prediction was on the money, for rumors about Snape and Black's affair started swirling that very week; soon, everybody in the school was of the opinion that there was something going on between them.

When asked how they felt, Harry, Ron, and Hermione all shrugged and mumbled something like, "Sure looks like it, doesn't it?" and let the matter drop.  They had no intention of telling anybody what they had seen over the holidays.  The majority of the school, however, felt that Snape & Black's relationship could only be an improvement, as Professor Snape was much more even-tempered and less vindictive under her influence than he had ever been before.

Even though most people wished the couple well (only not to their faces, as the two had not publicly announced their association), there were some who did not; the latter group came to light one morning at breakfast when the mail arrived.  An owl had just dropped Hermione's _Daily Prophet_ subscription on her plate when a commotion at the teachers' table caused everyone to look up.

Several large owls had swooped down and dropped large, red envelopes in front of Professor Black.  Her eyes widened for a moment, then narrowed, but before she could so much as pick one of the howlers up, they all exploded at the same time.  Snippets of the enraged letters could barely be made out over the din:

_"Filthy Muggle-loving Mudblood-"_

_"-don't need your foul-"_

_"-go back to-"_

_"You shouldn't have gotten involved-"_

_"-be sorry you ever laid eyes on-"_

_"-could do better than the likes of you-"_

Behind the tumult, Professor Black had jumped out of her seat and raised her wand; Snape was on his feet the next instant, his wand also raised.  Whatever spell they uttered couldn't be heard over the cacophony, but from both their wands issued sparking, fiery bolts of lightning that hit the howlers and shredded them to bits; the smoking, ashy pieces that were left slowly floated down and covered the table in front of them in a gray dusty blanket.  Harry glanced over at the Slytherin table and saw Malfoy, Crab, and Goyle grinning wickedly and laughing to themselves.

Black reached over and picked up another piece of parchment – the one letter she received that was not a howler.  She looked slightly shaken as she scanned its contents, and Snape, who was reading it over her shoulder, looked downright furious.

Professor Dumbledore approached them and said something to Black in low tones.  She handed the scrap of parchment over to him without a word and shook her head.  Dumbledore also read the letter and gave both Snape and Black a searching look.  He held the letter out to Black, but instead of taking it, she just waved her wand and it burst into flames.  After a few words to Dumbledore and Snape, she started to leave; Snape tried to follow her, but she turned and shook her head, pushing him back toward his chair.

The whole of the Great Hall was completely silent; everyone was watching the confrontation at the front of the room.  Black swept quietly out of the hall, and Dumbledore turned to the students.

"Nothing for any of you to concern yourselves with," he said.  "I suggest you finish your breakfast so you are not late for your first class."  He then turned and ushered Snape toward a side door and out of sight.

Harry grabbed his bag of books and stood up.  "I'm going to try to track her down; Ron, I'll see you in Divination."  He climbed out from behind his bench and dashed out the doors after Black.

He found her in her office.  She looked up at his soft knock on the door; her face was ashen.  "Harry, good morning.  I guess you're here because of the incident you just witnessed." It was more of a statement than a question.

Harry nodded.  "Professor, what's going on?  Are you OK?"  

She sighed, rubbed a hand over her face, and sat down wearily in her chair.  "I'm fine, Harry, really.  I'm just a little…shaken.  It's not every morning one gets that many threatening letters.  I'll freely admit that they caught me off guard."

"Why are you being threatened, Professor?" was his next question.

She smiled and shook her head.  "No reason that you need to be worried about, Harry."

Harry took a deep breath and decided to admit what he knew.  "It's about you and Professor Snape, isn't it?"

She obviously didn't expect to hear that – her eyes and mouth flew open.  "Severus?…um…what…whatever do you mean?"  She tried to sound innocent, but it didn't fool Harry for a minute.

"I know about you and Professor Snape.  Ron and Hermione do, too."  He admitted.  "We saw you and him on Christmas Day…." He looked up at her sheepishly.

She stared at him incredulously.  "How on earth…?"

"We…we saw you walking around the lake from the windows in the Gryffindor tower," he said, wondering just how much of their eavesdropping he should admit to.  "And we saw him kiss you…  We haven't told anybody else, I swear…well, I told Remus…but we didn't tell anybody else, honest.  The whole school knows, though.  The rumors have been flying for a week or so."

Black looked away and said, almost to herself.  "I thought I was so careful…thought we could just pass it off as being good friends…I never meant to fall…" she suddenly looked up at Harry.  "Does…does Sirius know?"

"I didn't tell him," Harry said, "and Remus said he wasn't going to, either.  But Sirius knows you're hiding something from him – he's known since that last time we were all up at Hogsmeade.  He told me to keep an eye on you to find out what it was that you weren't telling him."

Black sighed again and closed her eyes.  "Oh, boy…what a pickle…" 

They both jumped at the sharp, insistent knocking at the door; without further preamble, the door burst open and Snape stood there, as white as a ghost.  "Rebekah-"  he started, then stopped when he saw Harry.

"Severus," Black said quietly, "come in and close the door behind you."

He did as she said, and she put her head in her hands for a moment and sighed.

"Rebekah," he said again, "what…how…?"  he seemed at a loss for words.

"Severus, the cat is out of the bag," she said.  "The whole school has figured out that you and I…well…"  she sighed again but managed a wry smile.  "Harry told me that the rumors have been circulating for about a week."

Snape gave Harry a sharp look, but Black sprung to his defense.  "Harry didn't start the rumors, if that's what you're thinking.  He'd…er…figured it out over the holidays, but held his tongue out of courtesy."  She gave a small laugh.  "Guess it doesn't matter anymore, though." She looked up at Snape and shook her head.  "It will be nice to not have to hide it anymore, I think…."

Harry squirmed uncomfortably in his chair – he did not particularly enjoy being party to the conversation.  "Er…Professor?  I really should go."  He stood up rather hesitantly.

Black turned back to him and smiled.  "Oh, sure, Harry, have a good day.  See you this afternoon?"  Harry nodded and hurried out the door and up to the top of the North Tower to Professor Trelawney's attic classroom.  He couldn't wait to tell Ron.  But as he climbed the long staircase, he thought about the Potions class he would have to endure in one hour…and about how it looked like their streak of luck with Snape had probably just run out.

When Harry and Ron met up with Hermione outside of the dungeons, they held a whispered conversation and mutually decided to continue to keep quiet until either Black or Snape admitted to their involvement with each other, which, as Harry dryly pointed out, was about as likely to happen during Potions as for Voldemort to join the Royal Ballet.

They slipped into Potions and took their seats in silence; Snape was not in the room yet.  Their fellow Gryffindors took their cue and did the same, but the Slytherins were not quite so intelligent.  Malfoy had seen Harry running after Black that morning, and he had guessed – rightly so – that Harry knew something. 

"Hey, Potter!" he shouted across the dungeon.  "What did your Mudblood teacher-friend think about all those howlers this morning?"

Harry turned around in his seat to face Malfoy and stared coldly across the room.  "Why don't you ask her yourself?"

"Why should I bother," Malfoy retorted, "when someone who knows exactly what's going on is sitting right here in the room with me?  Come on, Potter, 'fess up.  Are the rumors true?  I know you know.  What is that Mudblood excuse for a teacher doing with Professor Snape?"

Nobody but Harry noticed that Snape was standing just outside the doorway, listening.  It didn't matter to Harry – he wasn't going to reveal the secret anyway.  "If I knew anything at all, Malfoy – and I'm not saying that I do – I wouldn't say anything anyway.  It's their business, and none of mine.  _Or yours_."   

"It is my business, Potter," Malfoy sneered, "if the head of my house is being bewitched by that filthy-"

Just then, Snape, displaying his keen sense of timing, burst into the room.  "What did I tell you, Mr. Malfoy, about insulting other Hogwarts teachers in this classroom?  Fifty points from you for ignoring my rule."  He turned to Harry.  "And ten points to Potter for doing the proper thing and keeping his mouth shut.  He is quite correct, Malfoy.  It is none of your business what is going on – _if anything_ – between myself and any other faculty member here."

Malfoy was seething; the Gryffindors had to work hard to keep their faces straight, less Snape change his mind and take back the first points he had ever willingly given out to any of them.  Instead, they focused their minds on the day's lesson.  At the end of class, as everyone was gathering their things to leave, Snape said, "Potter, stay behind for a moment."

As the rest of the students filed out the door, Harry caught Ron & Hermione's eyes and jerked his head to the front of the classroom.

"Your friends can wait outside for you, Potter," Snape said, but Harry interrupted him.

"Please, sir…if you're going to talk about…Professor Black…well, they know, too," Harry said timidly.

Snape sighed.  "Very well.  I want to thank you, Potter, for keeping quiet.  I would…prefer…that this remain a secret.  Such as it is.  At least for now."

All three nodded silently.  "We won't say anything, Professor," Hermione said.  "We had already decided not to." 

Snape leaned forward and looked directly into Harry's eyes.  "But I am going to ask you this, Potter, and I want the truth.  How did you find out?"

Harry gulped.  "Um…well…we saw you and Professor Black…on Christmas…walking around the lake, and…." He couldn't say anymore; fortunately, he didn't need to.

"I see," said Snape, straightening.  "Very well.  I appreciate your…discretion.  Off you go, then, it's nearly lunch time."  They decided not to push their luck, and scurried out the door.

Professor Black continued to receive howlers every morning at breakfast over the course of the next few days.  By this time, however, she was prepared for their arrival and calmly blasted each one of them into smithereens before it even hit the table. 

Black had also thanked Harry privately, as Snape had, for maintaining his silence both with his classmates and with Sirius.  She made Harry swear numerous times that he would not reveal anything about her relationship with Snape to Sirius…or her relationship with Sirius to Snape. 

After a few days, the howlers stopped coming and things returned to normal.  But not for long.  One morning, just as Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting down to breakfast, a piercing scream rang out through the hallways.  Everybody turned, stunned, toward the doors to the hall, unsure what to do, too terrified to move.  

Snape, who had barely gotten settled into his seat, leapt over the table and tore past rows of astonished students, the rest of the teachers on his heels.  It took only moments for Harry, Ron, and Hermione to realize who wasn't at breakfast: Professor Black.  Ignoring a prefect who was yelling at them to stay where they were, they dashed out into the hallway right behind the rest of the teachers. 

They heard strangled sobbing long before they turned into the corridor and saw Professor Black crumpled in a heap outside her office door, which was standing open.  Snape had gotten to her first, and was doing his best to calm her down.  

Dumbledore stood staring into the office, Professor McGonagall and the rest of the teachers at his side.  Snape had succeeded in calming the woman in his arms somewhat, though she was still crying.

Harry approached her hesitantly.  "Professor…?"  He whispered.   She didn't respond.   Snape looked up at him, then nodded silently toward the door.  Dumbledore turned around and saw Harry standing there, and Ron and Hermione off to the side, horrified looks on all their faces.

He stepped aside.  The office looked like a bomb had gone off inside it: shredded papers and mangled books were strewn everywhere, the desk had been blasted into at least three pieces, the chairs were overturned, and there was water everywhere.

The water confused him for a brief moment, but then he remembered just what was in her office.  He stepped closer, and choked back a cry at what he saw.  The front of the enormous aquarium had been smashed and broken glass littered the floor.  But the most horrifying thing of all was the sight of her two beautiful pets, the lionfish and the eel, dead, their bodies sliced open and impaled upon the jagged remains of the glass tank.  On the back wall, written in what Harry thought at first was paint, but then realized it was blood – the blood of the fish – was the following message:

_Take your heart and get out, Mudblood, he is not for you!_

Black's cries had diminished to ragged breaths, and Harry could hear Snape murmuring softly to her.  Behind him, he heard Hermione gasp and Ron let out a stifled cry; they, too, had come forward to see the office.

Harry closed his eyes and turned away; he felt Dumbledore's hand on his shoulder, and he looked up into the face of the headmaster.  There was not any sign of the familiar impish twinkle behind his half-moon glasses; instead, Harry could read sorrow and pity in his blue eyes. 

"You should have stayed behind, Harry," said Dumbledore.

Harry just shook his head.  "She's more than just a teacher to me; she's my friend."

Black raised her head at the sound of his voice.  "Oh, Harry…" she started, her voice cracking, "you should have stayed in the Great Hall…nobody should have to see this…"  She leaned her head against Snape's shoulder and closed her eyes.  "My babies…my little pets…I've had them for years…" 

Professor McGonagall herded Harry, Ron, and Hermione away from the scene and back toward the Great Hall.  "You three, come on, that's right…this isn't something you should see…"

Harry put a hand up to stop McGonagall.  "Professor, we _know_ about them, OK?  You don't have to hide the fact that they're in love with each other."

McGonagall's mouth twitched into a wry smile.  "I wasn't talking about that, Mr. Potter; I was referring to the office.  But how did you find out…?"

"We saw them over the holidays," Harry said for what seemed like the tenth time, "and they both know that we know, and, no, we didn't tell anybody else."

"Well," she said as they approached the Great Hall, "I'm sure they have told you that they did not want this to be public knowledge."

They nodded.  "We promised them that we wouldn't say anything…not that it matters anymore at this point.  Professor…was what happened really connected to…them?"

McGonagall didn't answer right away.  Just outside the doors to the hall, she turned to them.  "I suppose since you already know…yes, there are apparently some people who think that Professor Snape should not be involved with her…and instead of just letting him make his own choices, they have decided to threaten her.  But, I will warn you – drop the matter here and now, and no discussion on what you have seen with anybody.  Professor Dumbledore will make an announcement to the school soon."

Dumbledore did indeed make an announcement to the school later that morning.  Harry couldn't help but notice how pleased the Slytherins looked at the news of what had happened.

"I'll bet you anything Malfoy's behind it," he said at lunch.

"Impossible."  Hermione shook her head.  "Malfoy might be evil, but there's no way he could get into her office.  All the teachers lock their offices with spells far too advanced for a student to break."

"He didn't have to do it himself to be involved," Ron reminded her.  "I agree with Harry – he's involved somehow."

Defense Against the Dark Arts class was cancelled that day, but the rest of the classes went forward as scheduled.  Potions was nightmarish; Snape was grouchy and irritable – with good reason, Harry thought – and Malfoy continually taunted Harry from across the dungeon when Snape's back was turned.

By that afternoon, Black's office had been cleaned up and she had regained most of her usual composure.  Harry, Ron, and Hermione decided to visit Hagrid after classes let out, and none were surprised to find Professor Black there with Fang in her lap.  She had a cup of tea in front of her and though she smiled warmly at the three, they noticed that her eyes were puffy and red.

Harry was torn between sending a letter to Sirius and keeping his promise to Black and not saying anything.  In the end, the decided, against his better judgement, to not send an owl, at least until he had talked to her again.  

But as things again returned to a semblance of normalcy, Professor Black flat refused to let Harry tell Sirius what had happened.  "I won't have it, Harry – promise me you won't say anything.  He'll know soon enough – when he comes for his next visit, he'll notice the missing tank.  I've made up my mind to tell him then, to his face…and hopefully between myself and Remus we'll be able to hold him down."  She grinned sheepishly.  "I don't even want to think about what his reaction will be.  'Hey, big brother, your nemesis Severus Snape are I are having a romantic fling.'  With any luck, he'll faint dead away before he flips out."

She looked at Harry and sighed.  "Harry…you know, my intention was not to fall in love.  But my attempts to keep Snape out of your hair threw me into a much closer association with him than I would have normally pursued on my own.  Before I knew it…whammo." She shook her head.  "Too late to back out now.  But I never thought I'd be threatened for it."

"Professor," Harry said suddenly, "I think it was Malfoy." 

She gave him a searching look.  "Draco Malfoy?  Malfoy couldn't get in here to do what was done.  As much as the little snot hates me…I don't think he did this.  Now, don't get me wrong…he probably knows exactly who did this.  Or has an idea.  And he was probably responsible for one or more of those annoying howlers I kept getting.  But with no proof…I'm not going to throw gasoline on the fire by accusing him."

But Harry couldn't help but notice that Malfoy's vendetta against him was increasing steadily in the wake of the office break-in.  Not a day went by that he wasn't taunted or sneered at, and nothing anybody did could seem to stop it.  It took every ounce of willpower he possessed to not turn and retaliate.  But, as Hermione pointed out, it made Malfoy angrier when Harry ignored him, and he had to admit that there was a certain satisfaction in seeing Malfoy so obviously rankled by his unsuccessful attempts at picking a fight.

Harry's resolve nearly broke one Friday morning at breakfast when Malfoy, flanked by his cronies Crabbe and Goyle, came up behind him.

He poked Harry in the back of the head with his wand.  "Hey, Potter.  I see your _friend_ wasn't put off by the attack on her office.  When d'you reckon they'll try again?"

Harry stared at him coldly, rubbing the back of his head.  "I don't know why you're asking me, Malfoy," he replied.  "Why don't you ask the culprits themselves?  I'm sure you know them…if you're not one yourself."

Malfoy glared at Harry.  "How dare you-" Before Harry could react, Malfoy had reached out and grabbed a handful of his hair and twisted.  Hard.

Harry roared in anger and tried to pry Malfoy off; Hermione and Ron jumped to their feet to prevent Crabbe and Goyle from joining in.   The commotion did not go unnoticed for long, but Harry lost a chunk of his hair before Professor McGonagall descended on them and snatched Malfoy by the back of his robes.

"Mr. Malfoy!" she thundered.  "NEVER let me catch you doing that again!  Detention!  And ten points from Slytherin for you – and Mr. Crabbe, and Mr. Goyle!"

Harry massaged the spot on his head where Malfoy had ripped out his hair.  "Ow."  Once McGonagall was safely out of earshot, he said, "I'll get him, I swear…."

Hermione shushed him.  "Don't you dare, Harry.  Don't let him goad you into anything that will get you into trouble; that's exactly what he wants.  If you keep on ignoring him, he'll just keep losing his own cool and wind up with more detention."

Harry grimaced.  "I wonder how much hair left I'll have if this keeps up?"

"When McGonagall gets through with him, Harry," said Ron, grinning, "he won't dare touch you for a while."  He laughed.  "That'll give your hair time to grow back!"

Ron couldn't have been more wrong.  After Divination, as Harry, Ron, and Hermione were about to go into the dungeon for Potions, Malfoy cornered them outside the door.

"Don't feel so smug, Potter, it's not over.  I haven't finished with you, yet," he sneered.  "Of course…you're making it so much easier by not fighting back.  Not that you could do much even if you tried." 

Harry's eyes narrowed as he glared at Malfoy.  But he held himself in check and didn't strike out.  Instead he gave a short laugh and said, "Well, you're the one who pulled on my hair like some silly Muggle, instead of trying to hex me."

Hermione ducked her head so Malfoy wouldn't see her smile.  But he was too intent on Harry to notice.  "I'm warning you, Potter-" he started, but Harry just turned his back on him and headed for the door with Ron and Hermione.

Harry never heard the curse that Malfoy flung at him, but he felt its effect immediately as his was picked up and hurled through the door in front of him.  Inside the classroom, Snape had heard the raised voices and had started to come investigate.  Unfortunately, he stepped right into Harry's flight path as he came hurtling through the door and he found himself slammed backwards into the dungeon floor with Harry sprawled on top of him, barely conscious.  

Snape extricated himself from underneath Harry and stormed out of the dungeon after Malfoy, who had decided to attempt a getaway, while Ron and Hermione struggled to support Harry and get him up to the hospital wing. 

Harry awoke to the blurry forms of the Gryffindor class standing grouped around the hospital bed.  He fumbled for his glasses on the bedside table and brought their worried faces into focus.  Behind them were the silent forms of Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey. 

"Oh, Harry!  Thank goodness you're awake!"  Hermione, white as a sheet, as by the head of the bed.

Harry groaned and tried to sit up. "What hit me?"

Professor McGonagall answered him.  "A particularly nasty hex, courtesy of Mr. Malfoy," she said tersely.  

"He's not hurt as badly as I expected," said Madam Pomfrey.

A wry smile crossed McGonagall's face and some of the students chuckled nervously.  "We have Professor Snape to thank for that, Poppy.  He…er…cushioned your fall, Potter."

Harry ached too much to laugh at that, though it was amusing.  "Where…where's Malfoy?"

"He tried to run for it," said Hermione, "as if he would get away or something.  Professor Snape caught up with him just down the hall and dragged him up to Dumbledore's office.  They're all up there now."

Just then the door opened and Professor Dumbledore walked up the ward with Professor Snape behind him.  Professor McGonagall shooed all of the students except Ron and Hermione out of the room and closed the door behind her.

"Ah, Harry," said Dumbledore as they approached the bed, "you seemed to have suffered no permanent repercussions.  Still, I believe Madame Pomfrey would like to you remain here overnight."  Harry nodded.  

"We'll see you tomorrow morning," said Ron, and he and Hermione hurried out the door.

Dumbledore bid Harry goodbye, Snape nodded at him but didn't say anything, though Harry was surprised to see a look of genuine concern on his face, and the two of them left.  Madam Pomfrey brought Harry a goblet of a warm yellow potion with instructions to drink it all.  Harry did so, and in a few minutes he felt his pain ease and a restful sleep come over him.

Harry slept straight through the night, but was awakened early the next morning when the hospital door banged open and heavy footsteps echoed through the ward.  As he groped for his glasses, he heard the door to Madam Pomfrey's office open and her lighter footsteps approaching.

"Professor Snape!  What's going on?!"  The head nurse's anxious whisper sent chills down Harry's spine.  He quickly located his glasses, put them on, clambered out of bed and peered around the screens.

Snape and Madam Pomfrey were bent over a figure in the bed next to his.  Harry's heart lurched – it was Professor Black.  

Just then, the door opened again, and Professor Dumbledore came hurrying in.  He saw Harry and gave a slight shake of his head, warning Harry to stay where he was.  "Severus – what happened?"

Snape was holding Black's hand; Harry could see that she was unconscious.  "Rebekah and I usually meet early on Saturday mornings.  She was not at our usual spot, so I went to her private quarters….I found her lying in the hallway."

Madam Pomfrey had busied herself checking out the senseless woman.  She looked up the other two.  "She's been stunned, Professors.  And I don't know what else, but she looks like she's in bad shape."

Dumbledore frowned, pointed his wand at Black's chest and said, "_Ennervate._

Black stirred, gave a soft moan, and opened her eyes wearily.  She looked up at Snape, reached over with her free hand, and grabbed at his arm.  "Severus…" she said weakly.

He knelt down next to her bed and stroked her hair.  "Rebekah…what happened?"

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.  "Woke up early, couldn't sleep.  Made some tea, did a bit of reading.  Thought I'd go for a short walk.  Left my room, went into the hallway…heard a noise behind me.  I turned, didn't see anybody." She paused, too tired to continue.  

They waited.  Finally, she spoke again.  "I started to walk away, when I heard it again.  A swishing sound.  I looked again, and there was a wand hovering in midair.  It moved.  A voice spoke.  '_Petrificus totalus._'"  Harry immediately knew what had happened; someone had put the full-body bind on her.

Black spoke again. "I couldn't move.  The voice laughed softly.  Said I'd be sorry.  Then…then…" she broke off and said no more.

"Rebekah," said Snape.  She opened her eyes.  "Rebekah.  Then what?"  He looked like he really didn't want to know.

When she spoke it was in a whisper.  "_Crucio._"

"The Cruciatus Curse?" Snape whispered, horrified.  "They put the Cruciatus Curse on you?"

"Many times.  I couldn't move, I couldn't scream, I couldn't defend myself.  It hurt…so bad.  I think I passed out.  Several times.  Kept getting revived.  The full-body bind started to wear off. I could move a little.  Grabbed at where I thought they were.  Grabbed it…the invisibility cloak.  Pulled it off his head.  Saw his face.  Then…heard footsteps.  He stunned me.  Next thing I remember is waking up here."   She closed her eyes again and leaned against Snape.

Snape shook her gently.  "Rebekah…look at me."  She opened her eyes.  "Who did you see?  Who did this to you?"

She shook her head.  "I don't know."

"Didn't you recognize him?" asked Dumbledore.

"I…I recognized his face…but it wasn't who I thought it was."

Snape looked puzzled. "What do you mean?"

She shuddered and looked up at him.  "It…it looked like….like Harry."

Snape's head snapped up and he saw Harry watching from behind the screen.  His eyes flashed and Harry could see the anger rising in his face.  But Black saw it, too, and grabbed his robes, forcing him to look down at her.  "Severus!  It wasn't….it wasn't Harry!   It couldn't have been him.  Listen to me, please!"  She tried to get up out of bed, but her actions redirected Snape's attention away from Harry for a moment.

Snape looked between the two of them, the pleading woman in the bed and the terrified young man watching from his bed.  Finally, with great effort, he turned back to Black.  "Rebekah…how do you know it wasn't him?"

She shook her head.  "Harry wouldn't do that to me; he'd never do that to anybody.  But that's not how I know," she said then, in response to Snape's unspoken comment.  "He wasn't wearing any glasses."

Dumbledore nodded silently.  He turned to Madam Pomfrey.  "Poppy, go ahead and take care of Professor Black, I'm sure there is something you can give her.  Severus…a moment?"  He led Snape across the ward where they spoke in hushed tones while Madam Pomfrey bustled off to her dispensary.

Harry saw Black looking at him.  He slipped out from behind the screen and approached her bed.  "Professor…are…are you OK?"

She reached out and grabbed his hand, then glanced over to make sure Snape and Dumbledore were still engrossed in their conversation.  She turned back to him.  "Harry," she whispered, "send an owl to Sirius.  Tell him everything.  Everything.  Even about Severus and me.  I know I asked you not to before, but never mind that, just do it. Will you do that for me?" 

Harry nodded.  "I will.  You just rest and get better, OK?"  

She shook her head and laid back down.  Snape and Dumbledore returned to the bed.  "Rebekah," said the headmaster, "You should stay here today, perhaps tomorrow as well.  But I think that perhaps it would be best if you did not return to your quarters until we solve this.  And you should not be alone; whoever has targeted you will undoubtedly try again."

Snape took her hand again.  "She can stay with me," he said.  Black started to protest, but he silenced her.  "No, Rebekah, I won't have it any other way."  He smiled down at her, but Harry could tell the smile was slightly forced.  "I'd rather you stay with me, anyway."

She sighed and nodded, then smiled back up at him.  Madam Pomfrey returned with a potion and goblet.  Snape took it from her and poured it for Black.  "I will stay here with you while you rest," he told her, then handed her the goblet.  

She smiled at all of them, held Harry's gaze for a moment longer than the others, then drank the potion and sank back onto the pillows and slept.  

Madam Pomfrey looked down at Harry.  "How are you feeling, Harry?" she asked.  "Do you need to stay here any longer?"

Harry shook his head.  "No, I feel much better.  I'll go back up to my Common Room now; I think they" he nodded at Snape and Black "would like to be alone, anyway."

Dumbledore smiled.  "Yes, Harry, I quite agree with you.  Severus," he turned to Snape, "you'll let me know when she awakens, won't you?"  He nodded.

Harry reached out and squeezed Professor Black's unresponsive hand once before turning and running out of the hospital ward.  He had a lot of news for Ron and Hermione; he only hoped they wouldn't mind if he woke them up so early to tell them.

Ron was irritated with Harry for waking him up so early on a Saturday, but once Harry started in with what had happened in the hospital wing, Ron wasn't quite so tired anymore. 

"They attacked her?  Professor Black?!?"  he practically screeched.  "No way!"

Hermione came down from the girls' dormitory shortly after with the intention of doing some of her homework, but one look at Harry's & Ron's expressions and she knew something was up.  

Harry filled her in while Ron threw his clothes on and they all ran up to the Owlery with parchment and quill so Harry could write to Sirius.

"This is going to be the hardest letter I've ever had to write," Harry said.

_Dear Sirius,_

_Hi, how are you doing?  If you're not already sitting down, please do before reading any further.  Things are happening here that you need to be aware of.  Your sister is being targeted for anti-Muggle attacks because of the fact that she grew up associating with them, for one thing.  There's another reason, but I'll get to that in a minute._

_First off, a few weeks ago, she started getting howlers every morning at breakfast – really nasty ones, too.  But she ignored them after the first day.  Then, when that didn't scare her off, someone broke into her office and pretty well destroyed it.  They also smashed her aquarium, killed her fish, and left a nasty message on the wall._

_Then, early this morning, I was in the hospital wing – how I ended up there is another story – and Snape came running in carrying her.  He'd found her lying on the floor in the hall.  Dumbledore came in and they and Madam Pomfrey woke her up and questioned her.  She was attacked outside her living quarters here.  We still don't know who did it, but she said they were wearing an invisibility cloak and they put the full-body bind on her and then put the Cruciatus Curse on her lots of times.  She said she was able to fight back a little when the body-bind started to wear off, and she grabbed at their cloak and pulled it off their head.  Whoever it was looked like me, but she knew it wasn't because he wasn't wearing any glasses.  Nevermind that I'd never do anything like that, anyway!_

_She's OK, I talked to her, Madam Pomfrey and Professor Dumbledore are having her stay in hospital for a while, and she asked me to write you the minute I left the hospital wing and tell you everything that happened. _

_There is one more thing I need to tell you about, the other reason she's being targeted and attacked.  The reason is – and I apologize for not telling you but she asked me not to – is that she and Professor Snape_

"How am I supposed to word this?!?" Harry demanded angrily to nobody in particular.  Hermione and Ron came over to see what was wrong.

"I'd just put that they're in a relationship," said Hermione.

"That sounds corny," said Harry.  "An 'affair' is more like it, but that sounds so…"

"Wrong," finished Ron.

Hermione giggled.  "Well, it is sort of wrong.  I mean, when Sirius reads this, that's the first thing he's going to think!"

Harry sighed and stared at the letter.  He picked up the quill, paused a moment, then finished:

_are…well, they're in love.  I can't think of any other way to put it.  Ron, Hermione, and I have known since Christmas but we swore we wouldn't say anything (so don't bite me or anything)._

Hermione and Ron snorted with laughter at that phrase. 

_But, Sirius, you've got to believe me when I tell you that Snape is so different these days, I really think he does love her.  You should have seen him today when he brought her into the hospital.  I don't think he's doing this to her.  But someone is because they're together.  The message on her office wall said something like 'Take your heart and get out, Mudblood, he is not for you!'   _

_Anyway, sorry to have to break this to you, but she wanted you to know.  Say hello to Remus for me, and give Buckbeak a pat.   I guess I'll be seeing you soon?  _

_Harry_

He thought for a moment, then added:

_PS: One more thing – Dumbledore said that he didn't want her staying by herself anymore, until they catch whoever's doing this – so she's going to be staying with Professor Snape for now_. 

He reread the letter and, satisfied, rolled it up and went over to where Hedwig was watching from her perch.  She held out her leg and he tied the letter to it; he carried her to one of the holes and she flew off.

"Him and Remus will be out here by Monday morning," predicted Harry gloomily.

"Yeah," said Ron, "and Snape will have a big black dog breathing down his neck for the rest of the term!"


	5. A Visit from Snuffles

The three kept pretty much to the Common Room that day, doing homework.  Nobody else knew about what had happened to Black – Harry supposed Dumbledore was going to wait to tell the school.  When they went downstairs for dinner, they passed Madam Pomfrey talking to Professor Dumbledore.

"…can't get him to leave the ward, Headmaster!  He needs to eat…can't you do something?" she was saying.

"I think, Poppy, that the best thing for him right now is to stay by her.  I'm not going to force him to…"

Their voices died away as they turned the corner.

"Snape must still be in the hospital with Professor Black," Harry whispered as they sat down at the Gryffindor table.  

"Didn't think he had it in him," Ron said around a mouthful of baked ham.  

"I want to go check on her, but I hate to interrupt," said Harry.  "Oh, I know!  I'll take him some food.  Madam Pomfrey said he hadn't eaten today.  Ron, Hermione – put some of that ham in here." He held out a napkin.

Hermione looked at him, amazed.  "Look at us!  Putting a food packet together for Professor Snape!  Who would have thought-!"

They had to admit that it was rather amusing.  After they finished eating, Harry scooped up the bundle of food.  "I'll go alone – the less he has to complain about, the better."

Harry walked quickly to the hospital ward.  He paused outside the door, listening, but he heard no voices within.  He slowly opened the door and looked in.  Black was still asleep, stretched out on her stomach, one arm draped over the side of the bed.  In a chair next to the bed was Snape, his head bent over, holding her hand.  

Harry slipped inside the room.  The door clicked shut behind him, but Snape did not move; Harry wondered if he was asleep.  He approached the bed, and cleared his throat.  

"Professor?" he said, hesitantly.  Snape's head jerked up – Harry was right, he had been asleep.

"Potter?"  He sounded confused.

"Um, Professor…I brought you some dinner." He held out the packet of food.  "We heard Professor Dumbledore talking to Madam Pomfrey before supper, she said you hadn't eaten anything today.  I thought you might be hungry, and I wanted to check on Professor Black.  How is she?"

Snape stared at him as if he had grown three heads.  "You brought me…dinner?" It appeared to be as much of a surprise to him as it had been to Harry.

Harry nodded, and Snape took the food from him, a little suspiciously.  "Why did you do that, Potter?" he asked.

Harry shrugged.  "I know you're worried about her; I am, too.  It seemed like the right thing to do."  He reddened slightly – it was rather embarrassing to be having such an intimate conversation with Snape.

"Well…thank you, Potter, it is most…kind…of you."  He ate a few bites.  "She hasn't woken up at all today, but she is resting comfortably.  I appreciate your concern."

Harry wasn't sure what to say.  "Well…er…let her know I asked about her when she does wake up – Ron and Hermione, too.  We're the only ones who know, though.  Professor Dumbledore hasn't told the school yet."

Snape nodded.  "I will tell her; she is quite fond of you, so I am sure she will be pleased to hear of your consideration."

The next morning, Harry decided to check on Professor Black again.  He wrapped a few pieces of toast in a napkin for Professor Snape (just in case) and once again started down the long hallway to the hospital wing.  He wasn't paying particular attention to where he was going – his thoughts were turned to Hedwig and his letter to Sirius.  He wondered vaguely if she had delivered the letter yet, and what Sirius's reaction had been.  He smiled faintly.  He almost wished he had been able to see the look on his godfather's face when he learned that his sister had fallen in love with his most bitter enemy.

And so it was, lost in thought, that Harry opened the door to the hospital ward and walked in.  His brain didn't even register what he was seeing until he was just a few feet away from the bed where Professor Black lay.

He stopped and stared.  Professor Snape had pushed another bed over next to Black's, and was fast asleep on it.  As for Black, she had rolled half-way onto Snape's bed, and her head was resting against his shoulder.  Harry smiled; they looked so cute together (_Snape?  Cute?!_ Harry thought).

He didn't see any reason for him to linger, but before he could turn to leave, Black opened her eyes and looked at him.  She smiled, and propped herself up on one elbow so she could see him better.  He flushed; it was embarrassing to be standing there looking at the two of them next to each other.

She glanced down at Snape, who was still fast asleep, then back up at Harry.  "Good morning, Harry," she whispered.  "How are you?"

"I…er…well….uh…I'm fine, Professor," he stammered.  "I just…uh…came to check on you and…er…well…" He held up the napkin in his hand sheepishly.  "I brought some toast." 

She nodded at the bedside table.  "You can set it down there, Harry, and thanks."  She looked at Snape again to ensure he was still asleep.  "Did you send the owl?"

Harry nodded.  "No answer yet."

She smiled again, started to say something, then looked down as Snape stirred in his sleep.  "You'd better go, Harry.  I doubt Severus would be too pleased if he knew you had seen him like this."  She nodded down at his sleeping form and grinned.

Harry, eyes wide, just nodded and hurried quickly out of the ward.

The day passed slowly and when, by mid-afternoon, Hedwig had still not returned, Harry said that he wanted to go see Professor Black again.  

"Snape should be up and around by now," he said.  So the three of them set off and were soon at the hospital with a selection of chocolate frogs and Bertie Botts Every-Flavor Beans as a get-well-soon gift.

When Harry opened the door, they found that Professor Dumbledore was there, seated in a chair next to the two beds that were still pushed together.  Both Snape and Black were sitting propped up in the bed.  All three turned when the door opened, and Professor Black waved at them.

"Nice to see you three!" she said cheerily, sounding much like her old self.

When they drew near, they saw a rectangular wooden block with a pattern of holes on it sitting on the bed, around which were scattered playing cards.  Both Harry and Hermione recognized it immediately.

"Cribbage!" they both said.  "I didn't know you played cribbage, Professor," Hermione said.

She smiled.  "One of my favorite games."  She turned to Snape.  "Really, Severus…why don't you go for a while?  Have a shower and get some dinner.  Even if Professor Dumbeldore needs to leave, Harry, Ron, and Hermione can keep me company." 

"Oh, go on, Severus," added Dumbledore when he hesitated.  "Rebekah will be fine here with me and these three young people."

Snape sighed, nodded and climbed down from the bed.  "Don't wear yourself out, Rebekah," he said and she laughed.  He hesitated momentarily, then, impulsively, bent down and kissed her cheek, much to the children's embarrassment.  "I will see you later."

Once he had gone, Harry, Ron, and Hermione gave Black her presents (she gleefully opened a chocolate frog and popped it in her mouth) and pulled chairs around the bed.  They chatted for a bit while she dealt a cribbage hand for herself and Hermione, and Harry helped Ron try to understand the rules of the game.

His obvious frustration with a game that didn't move or explode amused Black greatly.  "You're as bad as Severus," she said.  "He kept expecting his peg to move itself."

Even Dumbledore laughed at that.  "Well, now," he said, "have you told Sirius about what's happened yet?"

Both Harry and Black nodded.  "I wrote to him that same morning," Harry said, "but I haven't heard-" 

Harry never got to finish his sentence, and it turned out that he didn't need to anyway, because at that very moment, the door at the far end of the room burst open and a huge shaggy black dog came hurtling in, followed more slowly by Remus Lupin.

"Ah," said Dumbledore, smiling, "you're late."

The dog hurled itself onto the bed, knocking the cribbage board off and scattering cards in every direction.  Lupin, still at the far end of the room, had pushed the door shut and tapped it with his wand, locking it tightly.

The instant the door was locked, the dog disappeared and there was Sirius, sitting on the bed with his sister.

"Rebekah!" he said, and flung his arms around her.  He pulled back and looked at her closely.  "Oh, my God!  Are you OK?  I got a letter - what happened?"

She hugged him back.  "I'm fine, Sirius," she said, "really I am.  It'll take more than one nighttime freak attack to keep me down."

Lupin pulled another chair up beside the bed and, before sitting down, shook Dumbledore's hand.  "So," he said, "what have you found out, Headmaster?"

Dumbledore shook his head.  "Nothing yet, I'm afraid," he said, sighing, "and not for want of trying."

Sirius looked over at Harry, then back at Rebekah.  "Harry told me you said the perpetrator looked like him."

She nodded.  "He did – looked just like Harry. Only, no glasses."

Everyone exchanged knowing glances.  "Polyjuice Potion." Sirius finally said.  "But how?"

"Yeah, how?" asked Harry.  "They'd need some of my….Oh, my God!  Malfoy!"

Everyone turned to look at him.  He smacked his forehead with the heel of his hand.  "Malfoy attacked me at breakfast the day before Professor Black was attacked.  He ripped out a fistful of my hair!  That's how they did it!  Why didn't I see that before?"

Dumbledore nodded thoughtfully. "It does seem possible for the two events to be connected.  However, Polyjuice Potion is a very complex potion to make, and the Cruciatus Curse is not easy spell to cast."

Hermione piped up.  "Well, Malfoy would know how to make Polyjuice Potion – we did it in the fall with Professor Snape."

"That's right," Ron agreed.  "We did."

"That still leaves the Cruciatus Curse," said Lupin.  "Could he have done that?"

Professor Black shook her head.  "No, not Draco.  He can cast quite a few hexes, but he's nowhere near powerful enough to use _that one_ with the force it was cast with." She shook her head again.  "No, it was a fully qualified wizard that attacked me."

Dumbledore sighed.  "Well, until we figure out who it is, we have to assume that they will try again.  I hate to say this…but I'd like you to have a faculty member with you at all times.  For your own protection.  And everyone else's.  If we can't stop this, students from Muggle families may be at risk." 

Black gave him a wan smile.  "I don't foresee any problems with having my own bodyguard, Headmaster."  She winked at Harry.

Sirius's expression went from thoughtfully worried to suspiciously annoyed.  "Speaking of which, Rebekah…there is one other thing I'd like to discuss with you…."  

She obviously knew exactly where the conversation was headed, for she blushed crimson and ducked her head.  Lupin and Dumbledore sat there with amused looks on their faces, watching.

"Sirius, I…" she started, but he interrupted.

"Severus?" he said, sounding amazed.  "Rebekah, you're _in love_ with SNAPE?!?"

"Well," she said, grinning sheepishly, "it's not like I put it on my agenda or anything!"

Dumbledore interrupted them.  "I think that perhaps I shall wait outside in the hall for a few minutes.  Harry, Ron, Hermione…if you'll accompany me?"

"Harry stays, Professor," said Sirius.  "I'm going to have a couple of words for him being so secretive."  But he was smiling when he said it.

Dumbledore, Ron, and Hermione slipped out the door, and Harry heard the lock click from the outside.  He looked over at Lupin and grinned nervously.

"Rebekah…I can't believe you didn't tell me?" Sirius said.  "And Snape, of all people!  You didn't pick him because I was teasing you about not being married, did you?!?"

She blushed again and put her face in her hands.  She looked for all the world like a little girl caught kissing a boy on the playground.

"Oh, Sirius…no…it's not like that at all." She finally said.

His expression softened.  "Rebekah, is he…is he good to you?"

She gave him a tender, pitiful look.  "Of course he is, Sirius.  I wouldn't be with him if he wasn't."

Sirius looked abashed.  "I…I didn't mean to imply…"

"Oh, nevermind, Big Bro," she said, grinning.  

But Sirius rounded on Harry.  "And why didn't you tell me?" he demanded.

Harry looked at him, pretending to be affronted.  "I _did_ tell you!  Only not for a long time…."

Professor Black laughed.  "I told him specifically not to tell you, Sirius," she said.  "Only the news was too much for him to hold in, and he told Remus just after Christmas."

Lupin gave Sirius a timid grin and wave.  Sirius just laughed. 

"So, I was the only one in the dark, eh?"

"Not really," said Professor Black.  "Severus doesn't know that you're my brother."

Sirius looked astonished.  "You haven't told him yet?"

She shrugged.  "I'm waiting to see if he can figure it out on his own.  If not, I'll tell him.  But not yet."

The door to the ward opened, cutting off their conversation.  It was Dumbledore with Ron and Hermione.

"He's coming back!" hissed Hermione.

"Who?" asked Sirius.

"Severus." Said Professor Black. "I suggest you do your thing, Sirius."  He responded by immediately turning back into a dog.

Harry and Ron quickly gathered up the fallen cards and righted the cribbage board while Sirius, as Snuffles, made himself comfortable next to Black and laid his head across her lap.  Everyone else scrambled for their seats so when the door opened again and Snape entered, the assembled group all looked calm and innocent, as if he had interrupted no more than a cribbage game.  Harry got the impression that he had taken just enough time to wolf down some food before returning.

Snape frowned when he saw Lupin and the dog.  "Good afternoon, Lupin," he said.  "I did not expect to see you here when I returned."

Lupin smiled mildly.  "Just stopped in to check on Rebekah, see how she is doing.  I was quite worried about her, after hearing of the attacks."

"I see," he replied, slowly, his eyes flitting back and forth between Lupin, the dog, and Professor Black. 

"Oh, for pity's sake, Severus," Black said impatiently, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed and nearly knocking poor Snuffles off, "come here."  She grabbed his arm and hauled him off to Madam Pomfrey's office, which was blessedly empty, and shut the door.  They heard her speaking rapidly in low tones, a few interjections from Snape that were quickly hushed, and then, silence.   

After a few minutes, the door opened back up and the two emerged.  Black was laughing, her arm looped through Snape's.  Snuffles raised his hackles but was shushed by Lupin.  

"Severus, it's _all right_, I've told you before," she was saying, "my family knew the Lupins, I grew up knowing Remus, he's a friend, _relax_."  She smiled up at him.  "You should be pleased that I have many friends who are concerned about me."  They had reached the bed and the bent down to scratch Snuffles behind the ears.  "It takes some of the load off you."

Snape scowled.  "That may or may not be a good thing, Rebekah."

She sat down on the bed and laughed, shaking her head.  "You are too much.  You've almost the entire past two days with me…don't you have _anything_ else that you needed to do?  Now is your opportunity to grade papers or dream up some bizarre potion for your class tomorrow, and you worry about me spending a little time by myself."

"I'm not the one who was attacked within the school walls, Rebekah," he reminded her.  

She rolled her eyes.  "And if whoever did it's going to be so bold as to try again with Dumbledore and Remus sitting here…well…how shall I put this?  It wouldn't matter if you were here or elsewhere, they'd still try."

He couldn't seem to think of a logical argument for that, and just stood there, frowning worriedly.

She grinned.  "Stay if you want, Severus, I can't force you to do anything; but Remus is staying, too, at least for a while" – she threw a questioning glance over in his direction, and he nodded.  She picked up a handful of the playing cards that were still on the bed.  "Stick around and you can see how a _real_ game of Cribbage is played – Miss Granger and I were just getting started."

Black managed to convince him to stay, but he refused to sit on the bed with her, since Snuffles was still there, and instead contented himself with watching the game's progress from a chair opposite the rest of them.  Professor Black kept getting distracted with Snuffles, who looked for all the world like he wanted to either bite Snape or hop off the bed and pee on his robes, so she ended up losing the first game to Hermione, but came roaring back in a second game with Harry and crushed him.

Snape seemed to finally get the hang of it, and agreed to play her in a third game, but he kept magicking his little peg around instead of moving it by hand, which irritated Black somewhat.  "You're not supposed to use magic!" she shrieked about four times before giving up and lapsing into silence. 

Dinner hour was fast approaching, and Dumbledore invited Remus to eat with them in the Great Hall.  Professor Black insisted that she wanted to leave the hospital and after much pleading and arguing with Snape, she finally agreed to let Madam Pomfrey make the final decision, though Harry could tell by her expression that she had a good idea of what the answer would be.

Surprisingly, Madam Pomfrey was unable to find any compelling reason for her to stay, and she smiled smugly as she walked, arm in arm, with Professor Snape who clearly would have preferred to eat anywhere except with Lupin and Snuffles.  The Gryffindor students were all thrilled to see Professor Lupin again, and begged for him to eat with them at their table instead of with the teachers.   He agreed, with Dumbledore's unspoken consent. 

The rest of the school watched as Snape and Black, still arm in arm, made their way up to the teachers' tables and sat down, talking quietly.  McGonagall caught Black's eye and gave her a knowing smile; Black winked at her.

Dumbledore made the announcement that night about the attack on Professor Black.  Most of the students were shocked, but Harry noticed that a few of the Slytherins – Malfoy included – were smirking and laughing quietly.  Dumbledore urged anyone with information to please come forward. 

"I will not tolerate attacks of any kind in this school, wizard or Muggle, student or teacher – NONE whatsoever.  Until the person who did this is caught, we have to assume there will be further attempts, and it is possible that students may be targeted next."

Lupin chatted pleasantly with the Gryffindor students throughout dinner, but, to everyone's disappointment, he said that he would be leaving afterwards.  "I only stopped by to check on Professor Black," he said.  But he held Harry back a moment and lowered his voice.  "Harry, I want you to keep me – us – posted about everything that happens here.   If there are any more attacks, anything at all, I want you to send an owl immediately.  I think Snuffles may return to his mountain hideout within the next few weeks – he wants to be nearby in case anything else happens.  OK?"

Harry grinned and nodded.  "Will do, Professor…er, Remus."

Lupin smiled and shook his, Ron's, and Hermione's hands, then turned and left with Snuffles at his side.

Spring at Hogwarts that year was sunny but cool, and the return of a state of normalcy (or, at least, relative normalcy, as this _was_ Hogwarts) encouraged Harry to relax and enjoy life.  Professor Black was still staying with Professor Snape in his own private quarters, as a couple weeks after the nighttime attack on her, someone broke into her office (again) and her quarters and left threatening messages scrawled across the walls.  

The whole school, by that point, knew exactly what was going on between her and Snape, not that either of them cared anymore, but it did make for some interesting conversations around the Common Room fire at night.

Harry, true to his word, had written to Lupin and Sirius the day after Black's office had been ransacked again, and had received word back that Sirius was once again in the mountainside cave hiding out with Buckbeak. 

One day, midway through April, Harry, Ron, and Hermione knocked on Professor Black's office door with a question about an essay she had assigned (Compare and contrast the following: wyrvens and dragons, merpeople and humans, Dementors and Lethifolds, doxies and fairies, and hippocampuses and hippogriffs).  Her voice sounded strangely muffled when she called out, "Come in!"

They opened her office door, half expecting to find her with Snape, but it turned out that she was alone in her office, crawling around on the floor, the upper half of her body hidden inside the cabinets on one side of the room.  She backed out to see who had come in, and when she saw Harry, she smiled.

"Hi, there," she said.  "What brings you three out here?"

"We have a question about the essay, Professor," Harry said.  "But…er…what are you doing?"

She held up a small wooden platform with a small metal bar across it.  "Setting mousetraps."

Ron looked puzzled.  "What's a mousetrap?"

"A trap for mice.  _Honestly_, Ron," said Hermione.  "What did you think it was?"

"Why do you need to trap mice?" asked Ron, who had turned pink at Hermione's words.

Hermione rolled her eyes, and Black laughed.  "Because they're in my office making a mess of things, that's why."  She pushed the trap she had held up back into a corner of the cupboard and stood up, dusting off her robes.  "Bothersome little critters.  Running around, pooping on the floor, nibbling holes in my books and spare robes.  I hate killing anything, if I can help it, so I tried some of these nifty little humane traps – the kind Muggles use, not magic ones, that catch the animal but don't hurt it – but these little buggers are smart; the bait was gone, the traps were sprung, but no mouse."

She sighed and laughed.  "Severus…Professor Snape…came in one day and found me saying a few choice words to one of the empty traps…he found it _quite_ amusing.  Gave me some magic ones that he said were sure to work.  Of course, they didn't.  So now it's time to play nasty.  These traps are the real deal – non-magic but deadly.  I baited them with cheese and peanut butter; irresistible.  Let's see those little beasts get away this time!"

A few weeks later, Professor Black was passing some graded homework back to the class; Harry noticed that his paper, as well as a few others, had some strange holes in them.

"Professor?" he said, raising his hand, "what's with the holes in this paper?"

She gave him a wry smile.  "It's those darn mice.  Actually, it's more than just mice, there are rats, too.  Cornered a rat in my office yesterday morning, but it slipped away; big old ugly thing."  She grimaced.   "I don't usually mind them, but this one was exceptionally ugly, for a rat."  The class laughed.

"You mean the traps haven't worked?" asked Hermione.

"No," Black replied, "they haven't worked one bit, which is rather surprising…not to mention annoying."

"You should borrow Crookshanks," said Ron, "he'll clear those mice out in a flash!"

Harry snorted behind his paper, but Black looked interested.  "Ron, you might just have hit on the answer I needed.  Let me try one more thing, and if that doesn't work, Hermione, if I could borrow your cat for a week, he just might do the trick."

None of them were really surprised when, two weeks later, Black held Hermione back after class and asked if she could borrow Crookshanks.  "I'm about fed up with these rodents," she said, frowning.  "They chewed through my copy of _Jabberwocky_ the other night."

"_Jabberwocky?_" said Ron, puzzled.  

Harry and Hermione both laughed.  "It's a poem," Hermione said, "by a Muggle, and it's very good."

Black smiled brightly.  "Right you are!  It is quite good, and now my only copy is destroyed."  She frowned again.  "Rotten little turds."

But Ron was far more interested in prose than pesky rodents.  "How does _Jabberwocky_ go, Professor?" he asked.

She grinned, and flung an arm up in the air.  "Come!" she said majestically.  "I will regale you with this wonderful tale, whilst we venture forth, our empty bellies to fill!"  They all laughed heartily as they left the classroom.

And so the foursome trooped down to the Great Hall with Professor Black recounting the famous poem:

_`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves  
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:  
All mimsy were the borogoves,  
And the mome raths outgrabe. _

_  
"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!  
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!  
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun  
The frumious Bandersnatch!"_

_He took his vorpal sword in hand:  
Long time the manxome foe he sought --  
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,  
And stood awhile in thought._

_And, as in uffish thought he stood,  
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,  
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,  
And burbled as it came!_

One, two! One, two! And through and through  
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!  
He left it dead, and with its head  
He went galumphing back.

_"And, has thou slain the Jabberwock?  
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!  
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!'  
He chortled in his joy_.

Ron practically doubled over with laughter by the time Black finished her recitation.  "Slithy?  Bandersnatch? _Frabjous?!_  Are those REAL words?"

"Of course not, silly," she said, "they're all nonsense, they don't mean anything."

She bid them farewell at the doors to the hall.  "I've got to stop by my office – bring Crookshanks down tonight after dinner, will you, Hermione?"

Later that evening, with Ron still repeating snippets from the poem and giggling, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, with Crookshanks in her arms, walked down to Professor Black's office.  They knocked on her door.

"Come in!"

They went in and found her standing in the middle of her office, holding a ragged book up between her thumb and forefinger, glowering at it.  Snape was there, as well, picking up little shreds of paper off the floor.  She looked up as they entered, and gave them a sardonic smile.

"They're at it again," she said, holding up the book so they could see.  "Chewed up my copy of _The Fellowship of the Ring_.  This is more annoying than people breaking into my office."

Crookshanks squirmed out of Hermione's arms and scuttled around the office, poking his flat face into corners and behind furniture.  "Well," Hermione said, "hopefully Crookshanks will solve your mouse problem, Professor."

She smiled.  "Yes, it would be nice to stop losing my possessions."

"You could bring some of them up to my office, Rebekah," suggested Snape, his hands full of crumbled paper.  But Black flung her arms out and spun around in the office.

"That's an awful lot of work!  I've got TONS of books and things here!"  She looked like she did not relish the prospect of either losing her possessions or dragging them all over the castle.

Snape shrugged.  "It wouldn't take long to move them, really," he said.

She shook her head.  "Moving them isn't the problem; finding places to put them is.  Do you really want your office and dungeon filled with stacks of books, papers, pictures, and what-nots?"  She laughed.  "I think this kitty will do the trick – no matter how smart a rat is, they're not smart enough to escape a determined cat." 

The deadline for the fifth year students to take their O.W.L.s was fast approaching, and Hermione had written up a studying schedule for herself, Harry, and Ron.  Fortunately, all the work they had done the previous year helping Harry prepare for the Triwizard Tournament gave the three of them a head-start, and a nice advantage over the rest of their classmates.

Harry spent some time trying to teach them the Patronus Charm that Remus Lupin had taught him two years earlier, but only Hermione was able to produce anything at all, even if it was just a few wisps of silver.

Between cramming for their Ordinary Wizarding Levels and working feverishly for their end-of-term exams, Harry, Ron, and Hermione had forgotten all about loaning Crookshanks to Professor Black.  One day, after Defense Against the Dark Arts, Hermione asked about him.

Black sighed and sat down heavily on her desk.  "It's not working," she said, shaking her head.  "He did catch a few mice, but I've lost a set of new dress robes, about a dozen books, and a whole pile of homework papers since you brought Crookshanks; I just don't understand it."

She smiled wearily.  "I finally took Severus's advice and moved some of my stuff into his office and his quarters.  You should see it now – boxes piled up everywhere."

"Are you still staying with him, Professor?" Harry asked.

She frowned.  "Yes, and don't get me wrong – his heart's in the right place.  But it's driving me crazy.  He won't let me sleep on the couch – makes me take his bed while he sleeps on the couch.  Won't let me walk about in the morning or evening by myself." She shook her head.  "There haven't been any attacks in a while – but he won't let his guard down, not one little bit.  Guess he's afraid I'll forget how to take care of myself." 

"So, what are you going to do, Professor?" asked Hermione.  "About next year – I mean, if you can't get rid of the mice?"

"I'm not sure, Hermione," she answered.  "I just know that it's really annoying to not be able to use my own office – things keep getting destroyed."

Just then, Snape appeared in the doorway, presumably to escort Professor Black to dinner.  

"Well, you can probably take Crookshanks back in the next day or so, Hermione; I might just end up moving into Severus's office permanently."  She grinned up at the man in the doorway, who did not say anything but merely raised an eyebrow.

Hermione giggled softly and leaned over to Harry.  "He looks like Mr. Spock when he does that."  Harry snorted, but Ron just looked confused.  

"Mr. Spock?"

Black must have heard them, because she looked at them, perplexed, then over to Snape.  Suddenly, she burst out laughing.  "Spock!  Ha ha!!"  She whooped with glee, then shook her head at Snape's and Ron's puzzled expressions.

"Nevermind, Muggle science fiction would take far too long to explain," she said.  "Hermione, stop by tomorrow for Crookshanks.  Oh, and good luck, you three, on your O.W.L.s."

Conversation at dinner turned to the end of term exams and O.W.L.s, which were only about two weeks away.   Hermione wanted to increase their study time; Harry had no idea how they were going to squeeze it all in.

Suddenly, Harry wanted a brief reprieve from all the books, all the work, all the stress and headaches.  "Let's go see Hagrid after we get done eating," he said.  

"I don't know, Harry," said Hermione.  "We really need to study.  And we probably shouldn't be out so late."

But Harry shook his head.  "You can study if you want, but I'm going to see Hagrid; I need a break.  And we'll take the invisibility cloak, just in case Filch is wandering around." 

As soon as they finished eating, they hurried back up to the Common Room, where Harry stuffed his cloak into the robes, and the three headed down to Hagrid's hut on the school grounds.  A knock on the door produced Fang's deafening bark followed by heavy, clunking footsteps across the floor.  The door opened wide and the bushy-bearded face of Hagrid peered out at them.

"'Bout time!" he roared.  "Ye haven't been ter see me in ages!"  He sat them all down around his kitchen table and served them some tea and rock cakes.  Finally, he settled back in his chair and looked at them.

"About ready to take yer O.W.L.s, then?  All studied up?"

They nodded, and told him about all the work they had done researching hexes and curse deflection the prior year, and Hagrid looked quite pleased at the effort they had gone to.  

"Maybe yeh should go up ter Professor Black's office an' blast those idiot mice outter the castle," he said.

"You know about her problem?" asked Harry.

"Yeah, I know about it," Hagrid said, gloomily.  "They're givin' her a fair time, I'll tell yeh that.  An' another thing – can't seem ter get rid of 'em.  She came to me awhile back askin' fer help; I gave her some stuff ter try…di'n't even phase 'em.  She's gonna move her stuff outta there over the summer an' let me get in there and try to put it righ'."

They chatted until darkness fell over the grounds, and Hagrid jumped up.  "Yeh best be gettin' back up ter the castle," he said seriously.  "Don' want ter see yer get inter trouble or anythin'."

They thanked him for the tea and cakes (though, of course, none of them had actually eaten the rock cakes – they had slipped them to Fang who also refused them) and then Hagrid let them out the back door.  Harry wrapped the cloak around them and they started slowly walking back up to the school.

After a quick check to ensure the entrance hall was empty, they slipped through the door and started the long trip back to the Gryffindor Tower.   They were about halfway there, when they heard something moving in the corridor ahead of them.  The castle was dark enough to make it difficult to see, and they waited, holding their breath.  The movement stopped; they heard a hiss and saw the gleam of two yellow eyes peering at them.  

"It's Crookshanks!" Hermione whispered in amazement.  "What's he doing out here?  I thought he was in Professor Black's office!"

Harry had a sudden thought.  "Maybe someone broke into her office again and Crookshanks got out the door?" 

"I don't know.  Crookshanks, come here!" Hermione hissed, but the cat just stared at her and switched its bottlebrush tail back and forth.

"Oh, he's probably on the trail of one of those mice," said Ron, "come on, let's get a move on before someone comes along."  But as they started to move forward, Crookshanks hissed again; they stopped.

"What's he playing at?" Harry said.  

"Crazy cat," said Ron, "just ignore him; let's keep moving."  They started forward again, but before they had gone more than half a dozen paces, they slammed into something solid, which sent all three of them staggering back, stunned.

"What was that?" squeaked Ron.  "What did we hit?"

Suddenly, to their amazement, they felt the invisibility cloak being pulled off of them.  It fell to the ground in front of them as they stared in disbelief at what appeared to be an empty corridor.  Harry heart stopped.

"Another invisibility cloak," he whispered, but before he could say or do anything else, he saw a wand appear and words came out of the air in front of them.

"_Stupefy!_"  All three crumpled to the ground.

The next thing that Harry was aware of was that his head hurt.  He opened his eyes, and looked up at the stars twinkling in the dark sky above; he was outside.  Rubbing his head gingerly, he sat up and looked around.  He was near the Forbidden Forest, quite a ways from the castle; the only sound he heard was the wind sighing through the trees.  He saw nobody else; Ron and Hermione were not with him.

He tried to stand up, but something pushed him back down – something in front of him that he could not see.   From the very air around him came a soft chuckle.

"Fancy meeting you here, Potter," the voice said.  "I must admit, I did not expect to run into you in the hallway – I expected the corridors to be deserted, but, then again, one would assume that you thought the same thing."

"Who are you?" asked Harry.

The voice laughed again.  "Oh, I don't think it really matters, Potter, who I am.  What matters is…what I'm going to do."

Harry heard a swishing sound, and saw footsteps appear in the grass.  The person in the cloak was pacing back and forth in front of him.  The voice spoke again.  "My original intent on this night was to simply break into Black's office and do some more damage.  I must confess, I am very disappointed in Severus Snape; I expected higher standards from him, not following that filthy Mudblood around like a starved puppy.  Instead, he protects her, shelters her, making my task that much more difficult."  The voice paused, then chuckled again softly.

"Imagine my surprise, when I ran right into you in the hallway.  At first, I was frightened that I might be discovered, then I remembered just who at Hogwarts has an invisibility cloak.  It took only seconds for me to revise my original strategy; instead of some petty vandalism, I decided to kidnap you."

Harry was frightened, but he was determined not to show it.  "Why?" he demanded.

"Why?" said the voice.  "Why, to kill you, of course!  Through your own amazing luck you have managed to elude the Dark Lord; his _faithful_" – he spat out the word – "servant last year didn't even managed to kill you.  But I…_I_ will manage it, Potter, because nobody will ever know what happened to you.   By the time your two pathetic friends are discovered, you – and I – will be long gone."

Harry thought he could make out where the person was standing, but there was not enough moonlight for him to be certain.  He made a quick assessment of the situation and decided to fight; he reached for his wand, but before he got his fingers around it, the voice spoke again.

"_Crucio!_"

The Cruciatus Curse was as terrible as Harry remembered it from before.  He writhed on the ground, screaming – and then it was over, as quickly as it had come.

The voice was laughing again, a cold, cruel laugh.  "Cat and mouse, Mr. Potter, cat and mouse – I'm playing with you before I kill you."

Harry's whole body ached from the effects of the Cruciatus Curse.   He struggled to his knees and stayed there for a moment, panting.  Movement on the ground about ten feet in front of him caught his attention, and his jaw dropped in disbelief when he saw what was skittering towards him. 

"Wormtail!" he snarled, and the rat stopped short.  It was fortunate that his attention was focused on the rat because, at that very moment, the hem of the invisibility cloak that Harry's attacker was wearing brushed over Wormtail, and he vanished from sight momentarily.  A second later, he was visible again.

Roaring with anger, Harry flung himself forward, aiming for a spot just above the rat and felt his shoulder connect with what he assumed were somebody's knees.  With a painful grunt, the invisible man toppled over onto the grass; Harry was on top of him in an instant and ripped the cloak off. 

Harry stared in amazement as he looked down at himself.

"Nice moves, Potter," Harry's double said, "but it won't save you much longer."

But before either of them could do another thing, shouts rang out behind them; Harry turned and saw Snape running toward him with Ron and Hermione bringing up the rear.  

The double-Harry jumped up and stood next to Harry as Snape skidded to a halt.  Hermione collided with him, and Ron tripped trying to stop in time.

For a moment, nobody moved.  Then, Snape spoke.  "Which one of you is the _real_ Harry Potter?"

"I am!" Harry was dismayed (but not at all surprised) to hear that they other one said the same thing at the same time.

He turned on the imposter in anger.  "What do you mean, you are?  You used Polyjuice Potion so you would look like me in case you got caught!  You attacked Professor Black, Ron, Hermione, and me, and you put the Cruciatus Curse on me!"

"What?" Harry shrieked.  "_You_ put the curse on me!  You said you were going to kill me!"

"I did not!" Harry bellowed.  "You did!  You're the imposter!"

"I am not!  You are!" Harry screamed. "You've got to believe him, Professor!  I'm Harry, he's not!  He's going to kill me!"

Snape, Ron, and Hermione looked at each other then back at the two Harrys that were standing there, looking quite identical.  Snape scowled.  "I see the imposter has improved his game – they are both wearing glasses."  
  


"How are we going to tell them apart?" said Hermione.

But before she could get an answer, the silence was broken by an ear-splitting roar and the sound of something heavy galloping towards them; then, from out of the trees came an enormous black shaggy figure on all fours, heading straight for them.   It slammed into both Harrys and sent them sprawling.

"SIRIUS!" Harry cried – and to his amazement, the other Harry had _said the same thing_!

"How do YOU know that's Sirius!" he hollered.

"How do YOU?!?" his double countered with just as much fury and anger.

The black dog had backed off, confused, when it realized what it was faced with, but kept its gaze fixed on both Harry and Harry.  Its hackles were raised and it was growling, but it did not move.

Snape seemed somewhat surprised at the sudden arrival of Sirius.  But Hermione stepped out from behind him to approach the dog.  "Sirius?" she whispered.  "We can't tell them apart!"

Suddenly the moonlight from above was blotted out as a huge winged creature flew out from over the trees, shrieking and blasting fire everywhere.

Both Harrys screamed and Snape's jaw hit the ground; Ron fainted dead away.  Only Hermione and Sirius looked calm.  The creature landed hard on the ground between the two Harrys and Snape, Ron, Hermione, and Sirius.  Both Harrys were too petrified to move; they just stood there, staring at the rather small dragon that was staring back at them.

Nobody moved.  The dragon – _was it a dragon_, Harry thought? _It's awful small_ – lowered its head until it was level with Harry's.  It's piercing stare held him riveted.  It sniffed him up and down, rather like a dog, then turned to the Harry next to him and did the same.  

It sniffed the first Harry again, then went back to the second Harry.  It continued to stare at the second Harry and then, very slowly, its mouth opened up into what Harry could have sworn was an evil smile.  A small hiss escaped between its teeth.  Harry stood terrified, another Harry at his side.

In a flash, the dragon sprung to life, its jaws snapping, ripping at the Harry's cloak.  Harry jumped back as Harry was knocked down by the rampaging lizard.  

The real Harry's eyes fell on Wormtail, still in rat form, running frantically toward the forest.  "Sirius!" he cried.  "Wormtail!  There he goes!  Get him!!!"  The dog didn't need any encouragement; he dashed off after the fleeing rat as the dragon flung the other Harry aside, stunned.  

Ron had revived and was staring at the confrontation with eyes like saucers.  "Ron!" Harry was running toward him, but Ron held out his wand.

"NO!  Not until I know you're the real Harry.  Don't come any closer."  Ron said, his voice shaking.  Harry stopped dead.

The other Harry lay in a heap at the feet of the dragon, which was bending over him, snarling.  "Ron!" he screamed.  "Don't let it kill me!  Please!  That's the imposter!"

Hermione pulled Ron back from the Harry standing in front of him, dragged him over to where Snape stood, unmoving.  Just then, thundering footsteps announced Sirius's return – and clamped tightly in his jaws was a terrified rat.

"Scabbers!!!!" Ron roared, rushing forward before Hermione could stop him; he snatched the rat from the dog's mouth and held on tightly.  Snape looked between Ron and the rat and Harry and the dragon, bewildered.

"What on earth-?" he started, but Hermione interrupted him.  

"Professor Snape, that rat is Peter Pettigrew," she said.  Snape's jaw hit the ground again.

"Keep a tight hold on him, Ron," said Hermione.  

A roar from the dragon turned their attention back to it.  It looked like it was ready to kill Harry, lying on the ground just inches from its jaws.  

Harry was screaming, "NO!  Don't let it kill me!  Please!  Hermione!  Ron!  SAVE ME!!!" 

Snape still wasn't too sure which Harry was which, and he still hadn't quite figured out why the wyrven – for that is indeed what it was – was behaving in such an unusual manner.   He raised his wand.  "Granger, Weasley, Stunning spells, on the wyrven, on the count of three-"

The wyrven screeched and spread its wings just as Hermione flung herself at him, knocking his wand arm aside, and screamed, "_NO!_ Professor Snape, that's Professor Black!!!"    Both his and Ron's and both Harry's jaws dropped.  

The issue of which Harry was which was immediately decided when the Harry on the ground in front of the wyrven apparently decided that he was running out of options; before anybody realized it, he had raised his wand, aimed it at Snape, and shouted, "_Crucio!_"

Snape didn't have a chance to react – his attention had been on the wyrven – but Hermione, who was paying considerably more attention to the person on the ground, had seen the movement and without stopping to think, shoved Snape aside as hard as she could.  The Cruciatus Curse hit her full on, and she slammed into the ground, screaming in agony.  Ron, who had stunned Wormtail and tucked him safely away in his robes, was at her side in an instant, putting his body between hers and the deadly struggle behind him, shielding her from further attack.

The dog rounded on her attacker, who had now pointed the wand up at the wyrven.  Sirius rammed him as hard as he could, and the winged lizard roared as it rose up slightly in the air, beating its leathery wings.  Now Snape was certain which was the real Harry, and he wasted no time in raising his wand and crying "_Stupefy!_" at the figure on the ground.  He collapsed on the spot and did not move.


	6. The Final Encounter

Breathing hard, Snape, Ron, Harry, and Hermione – still on the ground – looked between one another.  Snape pointed his wand at Harry.  "Don't move; not until we've sorted this out.  Sit where you are, and if you move, I stun you."  Harry nodded once and slowly lowered himself to the ground.  The wyrven had settled itself on the ground near the stunned figure of the other Harry, its eyes fixed on him.    Sirius padded over and lay down next to it.

Snape turned to Hermione.  "Granger…what were you saying?  That rat is Peter Pettigrew?"

Before she could respond, they heard shouts and saw the flickering of torches and wandlight approaching.  The screaming and all the wyrven's screeches had awoken the castle.

"Don't move!" a voice from the other direction bellowed, and they turned to find Hagrid stumping along toward them, his cross bow loaded and ready.  "Stay righ' where yeh are – Harry!  Ron, Hermione!  Professor Snape!  What's goin' on?"  Then he saw the wyrven and his eyes widened.

The second group arrived then, and the shouts turned to panicked gasps as everyone caught sight of the wyrven; they all stopped dead in their tracks.  The wyrven, for its part, raised itself up slightly and moved over to cover Sirius protectively, hissing softly, its unblinking eyes watching every move made.

Professor Dumbledore approached with Professor McGonagall at his side – she looked as white as a ghost.

"Severus, what has happened here?" Dumbledore asked quietly.

Snape began to recount the events of that night, starting with the discovery of Ron and Hermione.  "We followed Miss Granger's cat out into the grounds, where we heard screams.  We followed the sound and came across what appeared to be two identical Potters fighting.  The wyrven and that big black dog arrived shortly after and assisted us in subduing the imposter."

Just then, there was a booming growl from the dog and everyone's attention was focused on the figure on the ground.  His features morphed and changed, his body grew, and his untidy black hair was replaced by smooth blonde strands.  

McGonagall found her voice first.  "Lucius Malfoy!!"

Dumbledore raised his wand and cords shot out of it and around the unconscious form of Lucius Malfoy.  "Minerva," he said, turning to Professor McGonagall, "please escort Mr. Malfoy up to my office and send a message to Cornelius Fudge at the Ministry.  Take Hagrid with you – Hagrid, I would like you to stand guard over Mr. Malfoy until I return."

"The pleasure's all mine, Professor," growling Hagrid, shouldering his crossbow.

Dumbledore then turned to the small crowd of teachers who had arrived with him.  "The situation is under control – I would appreciate it if you would go back and inform the students that the danger is past.  Professor Flitwick, if you would be so kind as to see to the Gryffindor students, as Professor McGonagall is otherwise engaged; Mr. Filch, if you would attend to Slytherin House, I would appreciate it.  And, Argus, when you have done that please bring young Draco Malfoy to my office and leave him in Professor McGonagall's care." 

The group nodded and started back towards the castle; Professor McGonagall magicked the stretcher into the air and she and Hagrid followed behind.

Finally, Dumbledore turned to Snape and the others.  "Severus, I would like you, Ron, Hermione, and Harry to come with me up to the hospital wing."  He looked at the wyrven.  "Rebekah, when you return from getting Snuffles home safely, if you would join us?"  The wyrven nodded its serpentine head, picked up the dog in its front legs and soared into the air with one powerful stroke of its huge wings.  It rose up above the treetops and soared off into the night.

Ron and Harry were helping Hermione to her feet; she was still rather unsteady on her legs after enduring the full force of the Cruciatus Curse.  Snape strode forward, bent down, and scooped her up into his arms.

"Professor!" Hermione gasped.  "Oh, no…you don't have to-" she was red with embarrassment as he carried her across the field.

Snape shook his head.  "On the contrary.  You pushed me out of the way of that curse, and took the brunt of it yourself.  The least I can do is carry you up to the hospital."

The walked in silence for a few moments, then Harry spoke up.  "Ron, do you still have a hold of Wormtail?" he asked, feeling a moment of panic that perhaps the sneaky little rat had gotten away again.

Ron pulled the limp figure out from his robes and held it up proudly.  "Yep, here he is!  I stunned him so he'd stop biting me."

Snape frowned.  "You said that the rat is Pettigrew?"

Ron nodded, and shot a look of disgust at the rat.  "Slept on my bed for years…" he muttered.

"He is indeed, Severus," said Dumbledore.  "But he is safely stunned at the moment, only keep him close, Ron, in case he should wake up.  We can force him to show himself tomorrow, when Cornelius Fudge arrives to question the Malfoys." 

Once they were all settled in the hospital, with Madam Pomfrey fussing over Hermione and Harry, Dumbledore asked for a more detailed account of the night's events, and Harry got a chance to relate what had happened to him after he was abducted.

"There's one thing I don't understand," said Snape, "how did you know, Miss Granger, that the wyrven was Professor Black?  I am running off the assumption that it indeed was her, as Professor Dumbledore addressed her as Rebekah."

"Well," Hermione started, "Professor Black did some lessons on wyrvens last fall.  She made some silly comment about the statue of the wyrven being a statue of her before she had her first cup of coffee.  What she said stuck with me – I guess because it was so funny.  But then, when we were looking for you outside, Harry, she disappeared.  That struck me as odd.  I mean, why would she just up and leave us?  Then, when there was that horrible screeching sound, right before she appeared, I was worried it was something that You-Know-Who had cooked up, and the first thing I thought of was, 'I hope Professor Black is all right.'  Then, when she appeared, she looked just like that statue she showed us in class.  It just hit me in a flash – it really _was_ a statue of her, and not just a joke." 

Dumbledore smiled.  "Well done, Hermione – and you are correct, she is indeed an unregistered Animagus; she told me when she was first hired, but asked me to keep it a secret.  I agreed, with a few stipulations."  He got up out of his chair.  "Now, Ron, if you would be so kind as to give me Pettigrew, I'll lock him up safely until tomorrow.  The rest of you, get some rest – you, too, Severus.  I'll send Rebekah up when she returns."

"Where did she go, Professor?" asked Harry.

"I would assume she returned Snuffles to Remus Lupin – which will take a while.  Good night, and sleep well, all of you."

Professor Black returned late that night, but Harry had not gone to sleep yet and saw her come into the ward.  He sat up in bed and smiled at her, and she went over to him and sat on the edge of his bed.  Everyone else was asleep.

"Hi, Harry – boy, what a night, huh?"  she said quietly, smiling.

"Yeah," he said, "what a night.  Where's Sirius?  Did you take him back to Lupin's?"

She nodded.  "Yes, the full moon is tomorrow, and he wanted to be there with him for his transformation.  But enough about me or Sirius…how are you?"

"I'm fine.  Really I am," he said at her concerned expression.  "I think Hermione got it worse than me – she'd never been hit by the Cruciatus Curse before."

"Is she going to be all right?" asked Black.  

"I think so," he replied, the grinned.  "Professor Snape carried her all the way up here from the edge of the forest; I think the embarrassment made her forget the pain."

Black smiled, but it had a hesitant quality to it.  "Well, as long as everyone's OK…where's Dumbledore?"

"His office, I think.  Hagrid, McGonagall, Mr. Malfoy, and Draco are up there too.  Oh, and Wormtail."

Black looked puzzled. "Who's Wormtail?"

"An Animagus – a rat – he's the one who betrayed my parents and framed Sirius.  With him caught…your brother's a free man."  Harry smiled delightedly at the thought.

Black did too, but it melted away.  "Well…I'll celebrate when the official Ministry pardon comes through.  Until then….well, you get to sleep now, or Madam Pomfrey will have my hide.  I need to go see Professor Dumbledore."

Early the next morning, Harry was awoken by a squeaky little voice, "Harry Potter, sir!"  He sat up, reached for his glasses, and found himself nose-to-nose with none other than Dobby the House Elf.

"Dobby!" he cried.  The elf responded by hurling his arms around Harry's neck and squeezing him like a boa constrictor.  "Dobby is so glad to see that Harry Potter is well, sir!"

Everyone else by that time was awake, sitting up in bed.  Professor Black was back, and it looked like she and Dobby had brought breakfast up for everyone.  The smell of pancakes, sausage, and bacon made Harry's stomach growl; he was hungry.

"Tell me about last night," he said to Hermione.  "What happened to you after we were stunned?"

Hermione shrugged.  "All I remember is waking up to see Professor Black and Professor Snape kneeling next to us.  I think Crookshanks must have alerted them.  We followed Crookshanks outside and he led us to you."

Ron leaned forward and dropped his voice to a whisper.  "Just after we got out of the front doors, Professor Black took off running and told us to stay with Snape.   I think she must have gone to get Snuffles – and talk about making an entrance!  I nearly wet my pants when she dropped out of the sky!"

As they were finishing up, Dumbledore came into the room and pulled up a chair.  He accepted a cup of tea and piece of toast from Dobby and began to talk.

"We questioned both Mr. Malfoy and Draco, and learned a great deal about the events of the past year.  Lucius was indeed responsible for the destruction of your office, Rebekah" – she scowled – "as well as the attack on you that one night.  He has been hiding out, off and on, apparently, here in the castle, using his invisibility cloak avoid detection.  Apparently, he enlisted the assistance of Draco to procure some of your hair, Harry, so that he would be able to pin the blame on you should he have been caught.  Draco was also responsible for one of the secondary break-ins of Rebekah's office, it seems."

Dumbledore sighed, obviously pained that a student at his school could stoop so low.  "When Severus began protection Rebekah, Malfoy realized that another attempt on her life would be difficult, so he devised a scheme in which Wormtail – Peter Pettigrew – would sneak into the castle disguised as a rat to inflict minimal, but consistent, damage on your office.  Did you notice, Professor," he said to Black, "that the items that you lost due to rodent damage were all Muggle artifacts?  It was intentional.  Wormtail was the cause of your infestations problems."

"What's going to happen, Professor?" asked Harry, and everyone listened eagerly.

Dumbledore sighed again.  "Cornelius Fudge is on his way here, to question both Malfoys and Pettigrew."  He looked pointedly at them.  "I have informed him that under no circumstances is he to be accompanied by a Dementor.  I will not have a repeat of last year's blunder.  I have promised that he will have you, Rebekah, and Severus, Professor McGonagall, Hagrid, and myself present during the questioning to ensure his safety.  He was not happy about that, but he has no choice in the matter – he has to come, since the accused used an Unforgivable Curse on Professor Black, Harry, and Hermione."

Snape and Black nodded.  Dumbledore looked at Harry again.  "Harry, I would like you – and Ron and Hermione if they are feeling up to it – to be present at the questioning also.  Fudge will no doubt want to hear your account of things, as you were responsible for capturing not only our invisible attacker, but also Pettigrew.  Also, I suspect that you would like to be there, for your own reasons."

They nodded.  Dumbledore smiled and stood up.  "Fudge will be here this afternoon.  Classes for today have been cancelled, so everyone is excited about the long weekend.  I would prefer if you did not speak of these events to anyone until after tonight.  I will make the announcement to the school then."

Things very quickly got back to normal, as the end-of-term finals were fast approaching and the fifth years had their O.W.L.s right around the corner.  Hermione seemed none the worse for her brush with the Cruciatus Curse, though she did confide to Harry that it was one of the most terrifying moments of her life, and she was having some nightmares.

They heard nothing else about the Malfoys or Wormtail, and Harry had not had any contact with Sirius since the night of the abduction.  This worried him some, as he was concerned that Fudge, who most likely learned of his Animagus ability and whereabouts from Wormtail, would decide to just execute Black now and ask questions later.

The O.W.L.s were hard, but they got through them. Ron got five, Harry, six – it was, of course, no surprise that Hermione got them all.  Exams following right on the heels of the arduous O.W.L.s was exhausting, both mentally and physically, but they persevered and emerged feeling like an enormous weight had been lifted off their shoulders.  Which, of course, it had.

The weekend after the end of finals, before the final week of the term, was a Hogsmeade weekend.  Harry, Ron, and Hermione spent the day poking through every store in town – Professor Black had told them that Sirius was staying hidden at Lupin's until he got word that it was safe to come out again, which, as they all hoped, would be when his name was cleared and his sentence commuted.

That afternoon, when they got back to the school, they ran into Professor Black in the hallway.  "Hi, guys!" she said cheerfully as they drew level with her.  "Congratulations on your O.W.L.s, you really did well."

They thanked her, and walked for a short distance in silence before she spoke again.  "Say, Harry," she said thoughtfully, "I'm so keyed up these days, I'm having problems concentrating – I'm worried about Sirius, anxious for news on the Malfoys and Pettigrew, just tense in general.  I think I'd like to blow off a little steam, and I have an idea for how to do it.  You up for a little stint on your Firebolt?"

Harry looked puzzled.  "Sure – what do you have in mind?"

She flashed him a wicked grin.  "How 'bout a game of 'Capture the Flag'?"

The next day the stands of the Quidditch field were packed with students and teachers.  Word had spread quickly about the game that Professor Black and Harry were going to play; in fact, a handful of other House team players had signed up for their own turn.

The premise was simple: Harry and his Firebolt versus Professor Black as a wyrven.  Each had a brightly colored flag attached to their backs.  The goal: get your opponents flag before he gets yours.  The teachers were as excited as the students – everybody knew, of course, that Black was an Animagus, and she had agreed at Professor Dumbledore's insistence (though a little reluctantly) to register with the Ministry of Magic.

A hush fell over the crowd (somebody pick that up!  :D ) as the opponents stepped onto the field.  Though everyone _knew_ she could morph into a wyrven, only Harry, Ron, Hermione and the teachers had seen her actual transformation.  And so, one moment there was a petite, auburn-haired woman standing on the field; the next instant, a huge reddish wyrven.  The people screamed.

Madam Hooch blew the whistle, and they were off.   Smaller and leaner than a true dragon, the wyrven was much more maneuverable than the Horntail Harry had flown against the previous year.  Still, with his Firebolt, the two were fairly evenly matched as they swooped and soared and zipped around each other like two little birds, each trying to catch the other's flag.  Black had promised, before hand, that she would not use her mouth, only her front claws, nor would she breathe fire.  This was just a friendly competition.

Five minutes later, they were at opposite ends of the field, hovering in midair.  They had gotten a measure of each other, and it was now little more than a face off.  Warily, Harry edged sideways, waiting for her to make the first move.   

But she didn't move, so he did; a quick burst of speed rocketed him to the corner opposite her, but she circled around, keeping the front of her body toward him.   Harry went into a series of tight, fast loops that were simply impossible for her with her larger mass to follow.  In a flash, he had circled around her and snatched the flag off her back.  She roared, landed on the ground with a _thud_, and gracefully acknowledged her defeat with what was very obviously a deep bow.

A few other players tried, but without a Firebolt (or Harry's quick reflexes), Black caught all of their flags in a matter of minutes, to the tumultuous cheers of the crowd.

The last week of the term flew by and before Harry knew it, it was time to pack up for summer holidays.  He still had not heard anything from Sirius, but he figured that if the Ministry hadn't found him by now, it pretty likely that they wouldn't.

Gryffindor House had won both the Quidditch Cup (after a stunning victory over Slytherin) as well as the House Cup, and Harry was looking forward to the camaraderie and celebration at the Leaving Feast.

When they entered the Great Hall, they noticed that an extra chair had been set out next to Dumbledore's seat at the head tables.  Harry wondered briefly who else was here.

They didn't have long to wait.  Dumbledore arrived in the hall with Cornelius Fudge by his side; they sat down, Fudge taking the extra place by the Headmaster.  Professor McGonagall struck her glass with her spoon, and an expectant hush fell over the students.  Dumbledore got to his feet.

"Here we are, another year older, another year wiser…and perhaps a few pounds heavier…though if you are not yet, I assure you, you will be after the feast."  There was some scattered laughing.  "I have an important announcement to make," he continued.  "The Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, is here tonight to dine with us, but also to make several announcements of importance.  Mr. Fudge?"  He extended a hand to the Minister, who rose with solemn dignity.

"Good evening, students…teachers," he began.  He cleared his throat.  "As I am sure you are all well aware, the events of the past year here at Hogwarts – attacks on a teacher, destruction of her personal property, the abduction and attempted murder of a student…I am here tonight to inform you that we have the suspects in custody.  They are, of course, Mr. Lucius Malfoy, his son, Draco, and one Peter Pettigrew."  There were whispers and a low murmur of voices; Fudge waited until it faded away.

"It saddens me that two members of such an upstanding and noble family such as the Malfoys would descend to such lengths as they did this year.  Young Draco was responsible for some of the office break-ins here, and his father has been convicted of using the Cruciatus Curse against not only a teacher, but two students as well."  This time, the murmur was a loud buzz.  Fudge held up his hand to quiet them.

"Mr. Lucius Malfoy is currently serving a sentence in Azkaban Prison; his son has been remanded to his mother's care, but as punishment for his crimes, he has been expelled from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and his wand has been broken."

The buzz was now a torrent of sound, loud talking, shocked and excited whispers.  McGonagall had to bang her goblet again to restore quiet in the hall.

"The third person in connection with these attacks in Mr. Peter Pettigrew.  Many of you may not know the name, but he was believed to be dead, killed by Sirius Black when he confronted him with the betrayal of Lily and James Potter to You-Know-Who.  However, Pettigrew is not dead, as we have most recently found out.  I should beg the pardon of Mr. Harry Potter and Miss Hermione Granger – and Professor Dumbledore – for not believing them two years ago when they first told me of his existence."  He looked rather abashed.

"Pettigrew is now also serving time in Azkaban; it is likely that he will serve a life sentence.  Now, these apprehensions were made possible though the efforts of two Hogwarts teachers, Professor Black and Professor Snape, and three students, Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, and Hermione Granger.  In recognition of their service to the school and to the Ministry, I hereby present Professor Rebekah Black and Professor Severus Snape with the Order of Merlin, First Class!"

Black and Snape looked shocked, put very pleased indeed, and flung their arms around each other in a tight embrace.  The great hall erupted into cheers, whistles, and stamping feet.  McGonagall banged her goblet again, and the students quieted down.

Fudge cleared his throat again.  "It is highly irregular to confer such an order on students, or otherwise unqualified wizards or witches…however, I am bestowing upon Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley, and Hermione Granger, the Order of Merlin, Third Class!"

The whole school erupted into a deafening roar.  Harry, Ron, and Hermione were buried under a mountain of people hugging them, cheering and screaming.  This time, McGonagall waited for about a minute before ringing for silence again.

"This award is not just for the capture of the three people; it is also for helping to exonerate a man who spent thirteen years in Azkaban Prison for a crime he did not commit."  Harry looked up at Fudge, his heart pounding in his ears and hope blazing so hot he could hardly stand it.  Fudge continued.  "Sirius Black has been on the run for two years now, and it is my understanding that he, too, played a significant role in bringing the culprits to justice.  Therefore" – Black was leaning so far forward in her seat she was practically on top of the table – "I am pleased to announce that the Ministry of Magic is granting a full pardon to Mr. Sirius Black; he is totally absolved of the crime for which he was imprisoned.  He is now a free man."

Just then, the doors to the Great Hall banged open, and Remus Lupin walked in with a grinning Sirius Black at his side.  Harry was too thrilled to do anything; words stuck in his throat, and he was rooted to his chair. 

"_Sirius!!!!!_" came the shout from the teachers table, and everyone stopped to look.  Professor Black had vaulted over the table and was flying down the length of the room, her arms out toward her brother, who had also started running.  The met in the middle of the room, arms around each other, both of them crying tears of joy and happiness.  Sirius spun her around, then set her down and hugged her again.  Remus joined them, and she wrapped him a hug as well.  

Harry finally found his voice.  He let out a whoop of glee that made every head turn toward him.  He didn't care _who_ saw him, he leapt off his bench and flung himself at his godfather.  Sirius had one arm around Harry, one arm around Rebekah, and was trying desperately to shake hands with Ron and Hermione, who had run up behind Harry and were standing there, beaming.

The group made their way up to where Fudge and Dumbledore were standing, a little awkwardly, because Sirius was trying to hold everyone at one time.  The rest of the teachers, of course, were shocked at how Professor Black had run to greet Sirius and at how Harry had thrown himself at him.  Of course, only Dumbledore (and Fudge, because Dumbledore had told him) knew that Harry, Ron, and Hermione all knew Sirius.

Harry, next to Sirius, was almost floating with joy.  Gryffindor had the Quidditch Cup, the House Cup, Malfoy was expelled, his father imprisoned, Pettigrew also in jail, his godfather a free man.  He didn't think the day could be any more amazing.  He was wrong.

Professor Black suddenly let go of her brother.  "Severus, what's wrong?"  She hurried over to where Professor Snape was standing.  He looked as if he had been trying to slip out during the commotion.   "What's the matter?"

He did not answer immediately, just stared at her with an unfathomable look on his face.

Now she was really concerned.  "Severus?  Severus!  What's wrong?"  She put a hand on his arm.

He swallowed and looked down at her.  "You love him."  It wasn't a question; just a flat, emotionless statement.

She cocked her head to the side, looked back at the group, then back at Snape.  "Remus?" she asked, not sure what he was talking about.

Snape's eyes flew open.  "You love _Remus_?!?" It was almost a shriek.

"No," she said slowly, her eyes narrowing, her puzzled smile fading into a frown.  "I don't love Remus – I like Remus, but I don't love him.  Who are you talking about?"

"_Him_," he said, pointing at Sirius.

She looked back and forth between them again.  "Sirius?"  She said finally, a little disbelieving.

Snape nodded.   She rolled her eyes.  "Well, of _course_ I love Sirius, you nitwit!  Where have you been all this time?"

He gaped at her.  "You love him? You love him and you never told me?  You let me think that we…that we…" he didn't finish his sentence, but stood there, his face full of anguish.  Harry had never seen him so distraught, not even the night he had eavesdropped on them in the corridor.

Professor Black stood there for a moment, completely bewildered by his behavior.  Then, comprehension dawned on her face and she looked like she was fighting back giggles.   "You…you think that Snuffles…er, Sirius and I…" she trailed off, chuckled, and shook her head in disbelief.  "You really are impossible."

Professor McGonagall stared hard at Professor Black.  "Rebekah – you mean that you knew all along that what we thought was Remus's pet dog…was actually Sirius Black?!?"

"Of course I knew!  Sirius is an unregistered Animagus…and so am I.  In fact, the main reason I became an Animagus was because of him."

"You…you know all along," Snape said to her.  "You know that that _dog_ wasn't just a dog.  And you _love him!_ And you never once said a word to me."

But she cut him off. "Severus!  For goodness sake!  How could you not know?!?  Think about it: Rebekah _Black_!  Sirius _Black_!  Our last names are the same for a reason!!!"

His jaw hit the floor.  "You're MARRIED?!?!"

Everyone was watching the exchange in amazement.  

Black smacked her forehead with the heel of her hand.  "Why is there never a two-by-four around when you need one?" she asked, more to herself than anybody else. 

She stalked over to Snape and grabbed his arms.  "**YOU IDIOT!**" she bellowed. "**HE'S MY BROTHER!!!!!**"

There was stunned silence.  The watching teachers suddenly smiled as the pieces fell into place. "Your…your brother?" Snape whispered, barely loud enough for anybody to hear.  "He's your…brother?"

"Yes, he's my brother.  Now will you please calm down?"  She was thoroughly frustrated with him and looked like she didn't know whether to hit him or hug him.

"He's your brother," Snape repeated, still amazed.  "So you don't-"

"I love my brother, Severus," she said, "but not in that way."

He grabbed her hand and held it tightly.  "I…I'm so sorry!" he said, looking thoroughly ashamed of himself.  "It's just that I…well, I thought that…" his voice dropped to a whisper, and only the people closest to him could hear his next words, "I thought I'd lost you, too."

She looked at him tenderly.  "Oh, for pity's sake, Severus.  How hard-hearted do you take me for?  Do you think I would really betray you like that?" she asked softly. 

She beamed a great happy smile at him.  "Oh, come on, it's supposed to be a happy occasion!  Com'ere," she said, tugging at his hand to drag him closer to the rest of them.

He didn't move, but he didn't let go of her hand, either.  She tugged harder, and still he refused to budge, but she could see the tiniest of smiles on his face, and she realized he was playing with her.  She stopped and stood where she was, and gave him a long, searching look.  Then she smiled.

"A penny for your thoughts," she said. 

He didn't speak for a moment.  Finally, he took a deep breath, grasped both of her hands in his and looked straight into her eyes.  "Rebekah," he said, "will you marry me?"

Jaws dropped all over the Great Hall.  It was one thing for them to accept a relationship between two Hogwarts teachers – it was even feasible enough that one of the teachers could be Snape – but to hear him ask Professor Black, in front of the whole school, if she would marry him was more than most of their minds could fathom.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, Sirius and Lupin all looked at each other in amazement, then turned back to the scene before them.  Sirius looked torn between happiness that his little sister was getting married, and horror that it would be to Snape.  Harry suppressed a smile – it was quite amusing.

She didn't answer right away, but was looking at him with the oddest expression.  When she did speak, however, it was not what anybody expected to hear.

"Well, it's about damn time!" she said.

His eyes popped.  "About damn ti-?  What do you mean – wait a min-…you _knew_?!?"

She laughed.  "Of course I knew!  You can't keep anything from me – I read you far too well.  I've known for a while that you wanted to ask me.  I just kept waiting for you to screw up the courage to do it.  Took you long enough."

He looked like he couldn't believe what she was saying.  "So…erm…will you?" he asked tentatively.

She smiled warmly.  "Severus, you already know the answer to that question.  Of course I will."

The surprise on his face quickly gave way to joy.  "You will?  You mean it?  You really will?"  He hesitated only a fraction of a second – then he pulled her to him and kissed her.

The roar of approval from the Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw tables drowned out the groans coming from the Slytherin table.  But not all the Slytherins were disappointed with the turn of events – most of the girls were on their feet, clapping and cheering with everybody else, for just because they were in Slytherin didn't prevent them from enjoying romance.

The rest of the teachers were applauding; McGonagall had tears in her eyes.  Harry laughed at the look on Sirius's face.  The tugged on his sleeve.  "Guess you'll have to be nice to him now, won't you?" he said over the din.

Sirius grimaced, then smiled.  "Yes – but it will make it easier knowing that _he_ has to be nice to _me_ as well!"  Harry, Ron, and Hermione laughed.

Now Snape had enfolded her in an embrace, and she was hugging him back as hard as she could, laughing.  He looked down at her.

"Guess I'll have to really be on my toes, seeing as how I can't keep anything from you," he said.

She laughed again.  "It's because you think on things far too long – that's how I can read you so well, because you stew and stew and fret and when you finally make a decision, I'd already figured it out long before." She grinned playfully.  "If you want to pull a fast one on _me_, you'll have to start being more impulsive.  Now," she stopped and tried to go back over to Sirius, but he was still holding her hand and wouldn't let her go.

She turned back, exasperated.  "Now what?"  she said, half sarcastically.

He grinned at her suddenly. "Now," he said.

"Now what?" she asked.  

"Now," he replied, "let's do it now.   Dumbledore can marry us, right here, right now!"

Dumbledore didn't look surprised at all, but he was the only one.  It was now Black's turn to drop her jaw in amazement.  "Now?" she whispered.  "Right now?"

"And I won't take no for an answer!" he cried.  "I got you this time – we're going to do it right now!!"  He dragged her over to where Dumbledore was standing, pulled his wand out from his robes and waved it; suddenly, his robes changed to dark smoky-gray velvet with satin trim.  He looked quite smart indeed.

She just stood there, staring at him.  He raised his wand again and said, "_Orchideous!_"  A beautiful bouquet of flowers burst out of the end of his wand, and he handed them to her graciously.  She took them, still staring, wide-eyed.

"You're serious, aren't you?  You're really serious about doing this right now!"

Dumbledore's eyes twinkled behind his half-moon spectacles; he clapped his hands and suddenly the air swirled with long white ribbons which formed themselves into decorations that lined the hall.  Each student found himself with a yellow-orange rose pinned to their robes, and the wall behind the teachers' table was festooned with twinkling white lights and roses.

Then he turned to Black.  "I think, Rebekah, that perhaps you should change into something slightly more…appropriate?"

She flushed pink, looked at Snape, then at Sirius, then turned to the watching students.  She flung her arms wide.  "OK, you all, tell me – should I?"

Through the cheers and screams and whistles, it was fairly obvious that the majority wanted the ceremony to go forward.

She grinned nervously.  "Well, I guess that settles that!" She waved her wand and instantly her dark green robes shimmered and lightened into a dazzling silver-white gown the color of a unicorn.  She looked over a Dumbledore.

"Severus needs a best man, and I need a maid of honor."  She looked over towards where Sirius was still standing.  "Hermione, would you mind?" 

Hermione smiled, and with a wave of Black's wand, she, too, was wearing different robes the color of the dark midnight sky and holding a bouquet.  She went over and stood slightly behind Black, grinning excitedly.

"Severus?" Black prompted.

He looked at her then bent down to whisper something in her ear.  She looked somewhat surprised, but stood up on tiptoe to whisper a response.  Snape turned to Sirius.

"Sirius, would you consider standing as best man at your sister's wedding?" Snape asked politely.  Sirius's eyes flew open.

"Well, I, uh…sure!  I would be…honored."  The next instant he found himself wearing robes the same color as Hermione's.  He approached the little group, but instead of standing next to Snape, he first went over to Black and gave her a hug.

"Congratulations, little sister," he said, then stepped back into his place.

As Dumbledore conducted the short wedding ceremony before the assembled students, something tickled in the back of Harry's mind, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.  His attention was brought back to the present as Dumbledore said, 

"Then, I now pronounce you man and wife.  You may kiss the bride."

Harry looked away to hide the smirk on his face when he saw Sirius's expression as the newly married couple kissed and the whole of the Great Hall erupted into applause.

Then, with a start, Harry remembered something, and turned to Ron. 

"Ron!" he said, "Professor Trelawney's prediction!  She said there was a wedding in my future – she was right!  Professor Black – my godfather's sister!"

Ron smacked his head with his hand! "Bloody hell!  You're right!  She was right!"

Dumbledore had his hands up, signaling for quiet.  "We now have one more reason to celebrate this evening – and so, without further ado – let the feast begin!"

Sirius looked between his sister and Harry.  She put a hand on his arm.  "Sirius, why don't you eat with Harry at the Gryffindor table?  I'm sure his classmates would enjoy meeting you.  Besides," she threw a glance over at her new husband and blushed slightly, "I think Severus and I might…slip off…a little early."

Sirius looked like he wanted to run screaming from the room, but he masked it and smiled at his sister.  "Rebekah – as long as you're happy, I…" his voice dropped to a whisper, "I just can't believe you chose Snape!"

She giggled and blushed again. "See you later, Sirius," and she hugged him.

Then she and Snape, at a nod from Dumbledore, slipped out the side door and disappeared.

The next morning, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were waiting by the front doors with their trunks, and Ron with Pigwidgeon (covered in robes again to keep his quiet) and Hedwig in her cage.  They were chatting amiably about nothing in particular and though the year had ended on a happy note, Harry was disappointed that Sirius had left so soon after the Leaving Feast – he had wanted him to stay, since he was free, but he gave a hurried apology, told Harry not to worry, he'd see him soon, then he had practically dragged Remus out of the castle.

They looked up at the sound of a familiar voice calling out to them.  Professor Black was walking towards them, smiling.

"All packed and ready?" she said.  

Harry nodded.  "Say, Professor," he said, "why did Sirius leave so quickly last night?  He hardly ate anything then ran Remus right out the door."

She gave a small smile.  "He told me he wasn't going to stay long – something about how he wasn't going to stay in the same castle where his sister was going to…well, you get the picture."

Harry and Hermione snickered, but Ron just looked puzzled.

"What?" he said.  "I don't get it…what were you going to do?"

Hermione shot him an exasperated look and rolled her eyes.  "Oh, honestly, Ron, what do you THINK she did?  What does anybody do on their wedding night?"

Ron looked puzzled for another instant, then comprehension dawned on his face, and he looked at her like she had just offered him a bowl of fried slugs for breakfast.  "Eugh!  You…you didn't!"

Harry and Hermione burst out laughing, holding their sides, tears leaking out of the corners of their eyes.

Black was laughing, too.  "I assure you, Ron, that I most certainly did."

Ron still looked horrified as they laughed at him.  Suddenly, a shadow fell across them and they looked up to see that Snape had come over, put his arm around his wife, and kissed her on the cheek.  Ron looked like he was going to faint.

She turned back to them.  "You three have a good summer, and keep in touch, though I'll be out of the country for a couple weeks."

"Out of the country?" said Harry. "Where are you going?"

She smile up at the man next to her.  "We're going to the US for our 'real' honeymoon – leaving just as soon as you all do.  I'm going to show Severus the highlights of American culture – baseball games, warm sunny beaches, the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone National Park."  She sighed happily.  "It will be nice to go back and see all that again."

Just then, the carriages pulled up to take the students down to the train station to board the Hogwarts Express. 

Both professors waved at them as they boarded.  "Have a great summer!" Black called out.  The horseless carriages started moving, and soon the castle was out of sight.

The trip back to London was, for the most part, enjoyable, though Harry sorely missed Sirius.  He had hoped that Sirius would ask him to come stay with him, but nothing like that was mentioned at all.   The fact that Sirius was now free and could possibly come to visit him was the only thing that cheered him up.

The Dursleys were waiting for Harry at the Kings' Cross Station as they always were – tight-lipped, frowning, Dudley crouched petrified behind Aunt Petunia.  Mrs. Weasley came over and gave Harry a hug and kiss on the cheek.  She smiled at him.

"Have a nice summer, Harry – perhaps we'll get together later on during the holiday."  She winked at him, and Harry smiled and hugged her back.

"See you," said Ron, giving him a wave as he trundled his cart behind his mother.  

Hermione, in a fit of inspiration, dragged her parents over to meet Harry before they left.  They both shook his hand and Harry had his own flash of genius.

"Come meet my Aunt & Uncle," he said, and led them over to where Uncle Vernon stood fuming.

After a round of introductions, Uncle Vernon looked puzzled and narrowed his eyes.  "I'm sorry," he said to the Grangers, "but what exactly did you say you do for a living?"

"Oh," replied Mr. Granger, "we're both dentists; we have a little practice in Southampton."

Uncle Vernon looked somewhat surprised by this.  "You mean…er…that is to say…you're not…"

Mrs. Granger laughed lightly.  "Oh, no, we're not at all; it was quite a surprise to us when Hermione received her letter from Hogwarts.  We are constantly amazed at the things she can do – we are so very proud of her.  And we've heard so much about your nephew, Harry – such a wonderful child.  I would be proud to have a nephew like him – you are so blest."

Harry had to fight down the laughter that was bubbling over at the look on the Dursleys faces.  Hermione caught his eye and winked at him – she had obviously told her parents what a horrible home life he had, and they just couldn't resist laying on a nice thick layer of guilt.

Harry waved goodbye to Hermione and her parents, and wheeled his cart around to follow Uncle Vernon back to the car.

He sighed; it was the start of another summer at Privet Drive.

EPILOGUE

July the 31st dawned hot and dry on Privet Drive.  Harry woke up on his sixteenth birthday, anxious for the owls he was sure to receive that day – Hermione, Ron, Hagrid, and Sirius always sent him birthday cards, cakes, and presents.  With Dudley still on his diet, the cakes would be most welcome.

He stumbled downstairs, rubbing his eyes, and sidestepping in the hallway to avoid running into Uncle Vernon, who had gone to fetch the mail, and was looking at him with the utmost loathing.  A day just like any other.

Harry spent the day reading and polishing his Firebolt.  The morning dragged on, and Harry was surprised when he realized it was lunch time, and he had not received a single owl.  He had half a mind to send Hedwig out to Ron's, but she was asleep and he didn't want to wake her.

Shrugging, he put his Firebolt back in his trunk and picked up his Transfiguration book to do a bit of homework.

About two o'clock he heard the doorbell ring and Uncle Vernon's footsteps clumping along the hallway.  Engrossed in his copy of _He Flew Like a Madman_ (the biography of "Dangerous" Dai Llewellyn), he didn't even hear the footsteps on the stairs and the creak of his bedroom door opening.

In fact, he didn't notice anything until someone cleared their throat.  He looked up; Uncle Vernon was standing in the doorway, looking quite irritable.  "You," he barked, "downstairs.  Someone to see you."  With that he turned and marched back down the stairs.

Intrigued, Harry put away the book and went downstairs.  Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia were standing near the entrance to the parlor with white faces and wide eyes; Dudley was nowhere to be found.

Neither of them spoke, but Uncle Vernon jabbed his thumb at the doorway.  Harry went in the room and saw who the visitor was.

"Professor Black!" he said, surprised and pleased.

She smiled at him.  "Professor _Snape_, Harry.  Remember, I got married."

"Oh," Harry colored slightly, "right."

She got up and went over to him to give him a big hug.  "Happy birthday, Harry!  And you don't need to be so formal with me – it's summer holiday and I'm here on a personal call.  You can call me Rebekah.  Anyway, I came by to see you and meet your Aunt, Uncle, and cousin."  She stood up and looked at the door, beside which Harry knew the Dursleys were standing quietly and listening.  "Could you bring them in here?"

Choking down his own laughter, Harry poked his head around the door; they jumped at the sight of him.  "Come in," he said to them, "and meet one of my Professors."

Reluctantly, the entered the room (Dudley was still conspicuously absent) and stood there nervously looking at one another.

Harry cleared his throat.  "Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, this is Professor Rebekah Black…er…Snape, I mean.  She got married to another instructor just before the end of term.  Professor, this is my Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia.  I don't know where Dudley is."

Rebekah held out her hand, which they quickly shook.  "It's a pleasure to meet you all.  I apologize for intruding during your holiday, but I was wondering if you would mind if I borrowed Harry for the rest of the evening?  I'll bring him back tomorrow."

Uncle Vernon looked like he wanted to tell her to not even bother bringing Harry back, but he was taken aback by Rebekah's very Muggle attitude and clothing, and he did not want to appear rude, especially since he thought she might turn him into a cactus or something equally insidious.

"Very well," he said at last, "go ahead and take him."  He turned and stalked out of the room, Aunt Petunia right behind him.

Rebekah turned to Harry.  "Now, we don't have room to take much," she said, "so you can only bring a few things.  Pack a small bag with a change of clothing, bring your wand and your Firebolt, and – oh, yes – let Hedwig out and tell her to come find us; she'll know where to go.  She'll probably get there ahead of us.  Bring her cage, too."

"Where are we going?" Harry asked.

She smiled secretively.  "You'll see when we get there.  Hurry now, it's a bit of a ways!"

Harry dashed upstairs and grabbed his broomstick, wand, some clothes, and flung the door to Hedwig's cage open.  She nipped his finger affectionately and soared out the window.  He tucked everything else under his arm, grabbed the cage, and flew down the stairs.

She was waiting for him in the hallway.  Dudley had made an appearance and was trying very hard to shield his rear end from her view.  His aunt and uncle were standing there as well, looking relieved that they were leaving.

Harry thought of something. "Er…Rebekah…how did you get here?" 

She took the empty birdcage from him to lighten his load, and smiled.  "In my car."

"You have a car?  You can drive?!" he said.

"Of course I have a car!  I bought it shortly after we returned from the US.  I was miserable the whole past year without one.  Severus thinks I'm crazy – he won't even ride in it."  She laughed.

Uncle Vernon stepped forward.  "Let me get this straight.  You're a…a…whatever you are…and you have a CAR?"

She frowned slightly.  "Yes, I'm a witch, and yes, I have a car.   Would you like to see it?"

She walked to the door and yanked it open, and Harry's mouth dropped open.  Sitting there by the curb was a brand-new silver Jaguar XK8 convertible gleaming in the afternoon sun.  It had already attracted a small crowd of passers-by who were admiring it.  

"Like it?" she asked Harry.  

Uncle Vernon looked between the car and Rebekah and Harry, stunned.  His car was nowhere near as beautiful and expensive as that, and he was feeling properly ashamed at that moment.

"Come on, Harry," said Rebekah, "we've got somewhere to be."  They went out the door and crossed the yard.  Rebekah popped open the trunk and squeezed the things Harry had brought into it.  "It's not bewitched yet," she whispered to Harry, "so it will be a bit tight back here."

She climbed into the driver's seat while Harry buckled himself in the passenger side.  "Ready?" she asked him, and he grinned in response.  "Off we go, then!" she cried; then she started the car, and with one last wave to the Dursleys, she roared off in a cloud of dust.

Harry was laughing.  "The looks on their faces!" he said gleefully.  "I won't forget that in a long time!"

She laughed.  "They needed putting in their place.  Just a side benefit of buying this particular car.  I had a Saturn in America, and I loved it, but I wanted a convertible and this is as good as they come."

She pointed to a compartment between their seats.  "There's some music in there, Harry, find something you like and pop it in…of course, it's all American stuff…"

They drove for several hours, laughing and talking.  Harry was enjoying this, spending his birthday riding with wind whipping through his hair, in a car his Uncle Vernon could never even hope to afford.

"Where _are_ we going, Rebekah?" he asked again at length.

She grinned at him. "You'll see," and refused to say anymore.  Harry decided to just sit back and enjoy the ride.

She turned off the motorway and soon pointed out a sign on the side of the road.  "Chittlehampton," she said.

She drove them through the town and Harry looked with interest and the quaint little houses and stores lining the streets.  They were on the northern outskirts of the town when she turned onto a narrow lane and bumped along.

"This road is terrible," she commented.  "It's going to destroy my alignment."

There were hardly any houses this far back, and most of the surrounding area was undeveloped.  After about a half-kilometer, there were no more houses, just grass and trees and wildflowers.

Presently, they came around a bend and Harry saw a medium-sized two-story house sitting on a huge plot of land.  Harry recognized it at once as a wizarding house – it had the same rambling quality as the Weasley's house, The Burrow, did, and the same antique charm.

"Is this your house?" he asked Rebekah.

"Nope," she replied simply.  "Leave your things in the trunk – you can bring them in later."  She led him up to the big wooden front porch.

"If it's not yours," Harry said, "who lives here?"

"You'll see," she said, smiling.  "Now, this is a surprise, so I want you to cover your eyes, and I'll lead you inside.  No peeking!"

Harry obediently put his hands over his glasses and squeezed his eyes tight.  "I'm ready."

He heard her open the door, and felt her guide him gently over the stoop and into the house.  The door clicked shut behind him.  Then – 

"SURPRISE!!!!!"  

He uncovered his eyes and blinked to clear his vision.   Grouped in the room were Mr. & Mrs. Weasley, Ron, Fred, George, and Ginny, Sirius, Hermione, Snape, Hagrid, Remus Lupin, McGonagall and Dumbledore all wearing silly party hats (even Snape) and holding noisemakers and kazoos.  And there was Hedwig, sitting on Hagrid's shoulder – she had gotten there before they had.

"Happy Birthday, Harry!" bellowed Hagrid, waving his noisemaker around.

"Happy Birthday!" the rest of them cheered.

He looked around, enthralled.  The room was clean and furnished, but lacked any decorative items like mirrors or pictures.  There was an enormous pile of presents by the stone fireplace, and a delicious aroma was wafting into the room from another door, which presumably led to the kitchen.

Harry was delighted.  "Now I know why I didn't get anything from you guys!  You had planned this party!"

"Of course, dear," said Mrs. Weasley, hurrying forward to give Harry a hug and a kiss on the cheek.  "And what a great birthday surprise, don't you think?"

"Come on, Harry," said Ron, "open your presents!"

"Ah!" said Rebekah, "not yet!  First, we eat! Molly – let's get the dinner set out."

Harry followed them into the kitchen, while everybody else headed outside to set up the tables.   The kitchen was packed tight with various dishes of food.  Harry helped them carry the bowls and platters out while Hermione and Ginny set out the plates and utensils.

They seated themselves around the long tables in the back yard and dug into the marvelous feast.  Talk turned to the upcoming school term.

"Finally," Hermione said, "we've managed to keep a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher for more than one year!"

Rebekah cleared her throat.  "Actually…no, you didn't."

Everyone – even Snape – looked surprised, except for Professor Dumbledore.

"I thought you were going to continue to teach, Rebekah," Snape said, concerned.

She flushed.  "Well, I am…I'm still going to teach Muggle Studies, but I won't be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts next year; I've already told Professor Dumbledore."

"Why not, Rebekah?" asked Sirius next, his eyes worried.

She flushed.  "I haven't told anybody yet, but…well…it would be awful hard for a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher to teach…while pregnant…"

Snape's eyes flew open.  "Pregnant?  You're pregnant?"

She blushed again.  "I think so."

He flung his arms around her while everybody else cheered and clapped.  Sirius got up and rushed to his sister, pulling her up from her seat and hugging her just as hard.  

"My little sister – pregnant!" he shouted.  He let go of her and turned to Snape.  Chuckling, he held out his hand; Snape took it and Sirius pumped his hand up and down.

"Congratulations, Severus – you can be the father, and I'll be the uncle that spoils your kid."  Everybody laughed.

When they had finally laughed and congratulated themselves out, Rebekah showed Harry the back yard.

"We've got spells all around the property and a big huge back yard.  Which means," she said "you're going to get your Firebolt and get out here for some Quidditch!"  
 

Harry was beside himself as he kicked off on his broom – a birthday feast away from the Dursleys with all of his friends, his godfather was going to be an uncle, and a Quidditch match.  He didn't think he could have asked for a better birthday gift.

Or so he thought.

After they had tired themselves out sufficiently (and it was too dark to keep playing), they returned to the parlor and pushed Harry into a chair to open his presents.  As it turned out, the presents weren't just for Harry.  It seemed that Sirius had purchased gifts for just about everyone, in thanks for their help in clearing his name.  He even gave something to the Weasleys "for having such a wonderful son like Ron," he said.  Fred and George slipped Sirius a Canary Cream, which he took without thinking and suddenly found himself covered in yellow feathers; everybody laughed.  

And Harry was surprised to discover that even Professor Snape had bought them gifts: he, Ron, and Hermione each had a brand-new golden cauldron for Potions.  Hermione, who had lost pretty much all of her reservations and dislike for the man after he had carried her up the hospital that year, flung her arms around him, while Harry and Ron contented themselves with a handshake and many thank-yous.

But Sirius had saved the best for last.   When the whole pile of boxes was gone, he handed Harry a small box tied with a red ribbon.

"This is from me, Harry – actually, it's from all of us, because everybody here helped in making it possible," he said, smiling.  "Go on, open it."

Harry pulled off the ribbon and opened the box.  Nestled inside was a large golden key.  He looked up at Sirius, but it was Dumbledore who spoke.

"It's a key to this house, Harry," he said, smiling.  "I think it's about time you had a better home life…one that doesn't include your aunt and uncle.  You can live here from now on, with Sirius, your rightful guardian." 

Harry stared at Dumbledore and Sirius.  "Do you mean it?" he asked, afraid they'd change their mind.  "Can I really live here?"

Sirius smiled.  "Yes, you can – we'll go back to your uncle's tomorrow and pick up the rest of your stuff – as long as that's what you want."

Harry flung his arms around Sirius and, for the first time that he could remember, he felt tears spill down his cheeks.  The joy he felt at the prospect of living with someone who actually cared about him and treated him well opened the floodgates on all the emotions he had kept inside, all the pain and heartache and horrible things he had witnessed in his past, and it was too much for him to bear.

Sirius knelt down and held him tightly, letting him sob out his anguish as his own tears fell; Dumbledore quietly ushered everyone out into the kitchen to let a young boy experience the love of a father, and let a man recapture a long-lost friendship.


End file.
